Now is the time for a captain's innings

Vaughan believes not. But he accepts that 104 runs in six innings since Nasser Hussain quit as skipper has started tongues wagging.

Vaughan needs to finish with a flourish. "Michael's honeymoon period did not last very long, did it?" remarked Stewart, as he prepared to be capped for a 133rd and final time.

"But he is a quality person, which is very important, as well as being a quality player. He will need time to stamp his style of captaincy on the England team and, with the assistance of (coach) Duncan Fletcher, he'll be able to do that."

It's a safe bet, even when Stewart has put away the gloves and bat for good, he'll continue to fret over his country's results

"When England are in Bangladesh, I'll be in Rome watching Chelsea play Lazio," he said.

But keeping tabs of the score in Dhaka, no doubt. Four years ago, Stewart cringed with the rest of the home side at The Oval when England went down to New Zealand to be crowned - unofficially but noisily - the world's worst Test team.

One year later, he celebrated along with a capacity crowd as West Indies were finally beaten. Back then, Hussain led the side in firebrand fashion. Now, because of a broken toe, the former skipper is not even in the XI and England look to Vaughan to rally the troops.

Stewart, for one, is confident the new man has what it takes to make a success of one of sport's toughest jobs.

"It may not happen for another eight games or 10 games but Michael Vaughan will come through this, no problem at all," he said.

"Michael leads by example on the field and speaks very well in the dressing room. He's very like Michael Atherton, who wouldn't rant and rave too often.

"But when he does it means something is really up, so you listen.

"He'll expect his players to respond to him, which I like to think we are doing."

Given that South Africa are about to be at full strength for the first time this series, that response will need to be extra special over the next few days for England to emerge victorious at The Oval and claim a 2-2 series draw.

Still, at least England have a comeback man to pin some hopes on. Thorpe, not before time, has been restored to the middle order and, judging from his mood in the build-up to this match, is relishing the challenge.

"It's a newer team with newer faces and a new captain but the buzz is the same," said the Surrey left-hander, following his year-long break from international cricket.

"It's nice to walk into the England dressing room again and it still feels a special place."

How special will depend on the result and whether Vaughan is once again the toast of English cricket.

npower Test series

ENGLAND (from): M Trescothick, M Vaughan (capt), M Butcher, G Thorpe, E Smith, A Stewart (wkt), A Flintoff, A Giles, G Batty, Kabir Ali, M Bicknell, S Harmison, J Anderson.
SOUTH AFRICA (from): G Smith (capt), H Gibbs, G Kirsten, J Kallis, J Rudolph, N McKenzie, M Boucher (wkt), S Pollock, A Hall, P Adams, M Ntini, D Pretorius.
Umpires: S Venkat (Ind), S Taufel (Aus). TV Replays: J Lloyds (Eng). Match Referee: R Madugalle (SL).
Results: 1st Test (Edgbaston): Drawn 2nd Test (Lord's): SA won, inns & 92 runs 3rd Test (Trent Bridge): Eng won, 70 runs 4th Test (Headingley): SA won, 191 runs To play: 5th Test (The Oval): 4-8 Sep