Chris Adams: Nasser just ran out of energy

I didn't think he would want to go abroad this winter. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies are all hard tours and, having already been to two of those places, I didn't think it would appeal to him.

I thought he would see this series through and then pack it in at the end of the summer, hopefully having gained revenge over the South Africans for our series defeat there in 1999.

I must admit that from what play I saw on television I didn't notice anything untoward in the way Nasser was leading the team in the first Test at Edgbaston last week.

But, having since spoken to one or two people involved in the England management, there was a feeling around the side that something wasn't right. The mood had changed.

Unless you have captained a team, it's hard to grasp just what is involved.

I guess that Nasser simply ran out of energy. He certainly looked drained at the Press conference where he announced his intention to step down.

I'll always be grateful to him for giving me my chance in South Africa four years ago.

Tactically he was a brilliant captain although I think he got worse as the job wore him down as his decision to field first in Brisbane last November showed.

It set the tone for the rest of the series and I think a lot of people sensed after just one day in Australia last winter that we had little chance of regaining the Ashes.

I think his man-management skills have improved as he has grown into the job and he deals with the Press a bit better than he did at the start.

One or two members of the fourth estate, in particular the myriad of ex-players who seem to dominate the TV commentary booths these days, have had it in for him for a while which, in my view, is out of order.

No one has led England with more passion and pride and I think everyone will agree that we are a better side than when Nasser took over.

What surprised me even more than his resignation was the selectors' decision to play him in the second Test currently going on at Lord's.

It would have surely made more sense for Nasser to take a couple of weeks off, collect his thoughts and return at Trent Bridge safe in the knowledge that his place in the team was guaranteed for the rest of the series.

Instead, a couple of days after the end of the Edgbaston Test the spotlight was firmly on Nasser again and his successor Michael Vaughan.

I'm so glad the crowd gave him a magnificent ovation when he walked out to bat on the first day, no one deserved it more.

But that would only have put more pressure on him to produce a performance and, after all that had gone on earlier in the week, maybe he was not mentally able to produce it.

It was only to be expected that the media would pick up on his disappointing first innings and that fumbled catch. With a bit of forward thinking by the selectors, it could have all been avoided.

Long term I don't know what the future holds for Nasser.

He's got to decide when he draws back the curtains in the morning whether county cricket will motivate him sufficiently. I suspect not, but only time will tell.

One little incident since he was appointed as England captain says a lot about Michael Vaughan.

England got an absolute pasting on the first day at Lord's.

In his worst nightmare I don't imagine Michael thought it could have gone any worse with England rolled over and South Africa within 20-odd runs of their total with nine wickets left at the end of the day.

They are what the Press - and a few players if I'm being honest - like to call 'bowling coach days.' There's a feeling that when things have gone well for England a player or Duncan Fletcher, the coach, face the media.

When it goes badly the bowling coach is normally sent out. In the winter Down Under you knew what sort of day England had endured even if you didn't know the score if Graham Dilley was filling our TV screens during the highlights!

So credit to Michael for fronting it up and admitting England had played poorly.

I don't know whether it was his decision to face the media, but it was a brave one and the right one.

I got to know Michael quite well when we toured together in South Africa.

I remember going out to join him when we were 2-4 in the first Test and asking him what the ball was doing.

He replied: "I don't know, I haven't faced one yet!" We still have a chuckle about that.

He may come across as laid back, but Michael is a very clever lad whose off the field career is being well managed by the former Lancashire player Neil Fairbrother on behalf of Chubby Chandler, the agent who also looks after golfers Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood.

I thought he led a young, fairly inexperienced team well in the one-day series and you could see the players responding to him.

He isn't afraid to consult others but don't let that fool you, he is very much his own man who will be determined to put his own stamp on this England team, a bit like Nasser in fact.

I wish him all the best. He is certainly going to lead an England team with a lot of potential thanks to the emergence of the likes of James Anderson and Marcus Trescothick.

Regardless of what happens today when our match with Surrey concludes, I don't think anyone can deny that we have acquitted ourselves really well against the leaders and deserve to be challenging them for the title.

Every time I have asked for another push from the side, particularly when we have been in the field, they have responded. We saw it on the last days at Arundel and Leicester and again at Trent Bridge last weekend.

We now have a break from Championship cricket and an opportunity to re-charge our batteries ahead of the run-in to the end of the season.

We still have two games against Lancashire to play which are obviously important but I wonder how vital it is that three of our remaining five matches are at Hove where we have a 100 per cent record which we hope to have maintained by the time the Surrey game is over.

We have made Hove, and our two outgrounds, a fortress this season and regardless of what happened in the title race it would be a fantastic achievement if we could finish the season unbeaten on our own patch.

I was obviously delighted to score my first century for a while against Surrey on Wednesday.

But the form Murray Goodwin has shown in the last week or so in the Championship has given me just as much pleasure.

'Muzza' has been an integral part of the success we are having this season and in the other two years he has been at Hove.

His contract expires at the end of the season and, all being well, he will return next year. In an ideal world I would like to see both him and Mushtaq Ahmed come back to us.

These days, there are a lot of factors to consider when you are weighing up your options as far as overseas players are concerned.

We have been very fortunate that both Mushy and Murray are solid characters keen to embrace everything we are trying to achieve at Sussex. Just as importantly, they are available all season.

I would hate to see what is happening at some counties, where overseas players seem to come and go seemingly on a match-by-match basis, replicated at Hove.

Not only does it unsettle the dressing room but I'm sure, in the long run, that it is expensive for the clubs.