You were right - it's Atherton!

Mike Atherton has been appointed stand-in England captain for the second Ashes Test against Australia in place of the injured Nasser Hussain - as predicted by

In a poll hosted on This Is London during the two days of speculation as to who would get the job, 39 per cent of readers opted for the Lancashire batsman - 14 per cent more than the 25 per cent who chose Yorkshire bowler Darren Gough.

Marcus Trescothick (20 per cent), Graham Thorpe (8 per cent), Alec Stewart (5 per cent) and Mark Butcher (3 per cent) made up the numbers. Over 1,000 This Is London readers voted.

Atherton will take over his duties next week when the squad assembles in London on Tuesday and will lead the side out for the first time since resigning from the position in Antigua over three years ago. He captained England in 52 Tests between 1993 and 1998.

Hussain broke the little finger on his left hand during the innings defeat at Edgbaston in the opening Test and was subsequently ruled out for the next three weeks.

England initially drew up a shortlist of three, also featuring Alec Stewart and Marcus Trescothick, while they assessed their options.

The second Test takes place at Lord's, starting Thursday July 19th.