The England captain, Nasser Hussain, will be out for three weeks after fracturing the little finger of his left hand in yesterday's 1st npower Test Match against Australia at Edgbaston.

Hussain, who will now miss the 2nd npower Test at Lord's next week, was given the news after visiting a hand specialist in Windsor earlier today.

England physiotherapist Dean Conway said: "The advice we have had from the specialist is that the fracture is stable and Nasser's finger will be in a splint until next Monday. He should be able to start mobilising the joint thereafter but the specialist's initial thoughts are that he will be out of cricket for around three weeks."

An announcement about a replacement captain for next week's 2nd npower Test will be made by the selectors later this week. The England Test squad will be announced this Sunday at 11 am via press release.

© ECB