Nasser Hussain must surely play in England's World Cup opener at Lord's on Friday.

If the Essex skipper fails to make the side to face Sri Lanka, he and the 5,000 spectators who saw him in action at Chelmsford yesterday will demand to know why.

Hussain was unable to save his side from going down by one run in a warm-up thriller against England, but scored a magnificent 82 which left Alec Stewart and his side on the brink of an embarrassing defeat.

Although a member of the World Cup squad, Hussain had been released by the hierarchy to lead his county in this game. Rumour also had it that the selectors, disturbed by the lack of form shown by Stewart and Nick Knight, requested him to open the innings.

If that was the case, he did more than enough to show he is equal to such a challenge as he saw off the new ball without looking in any trouble.

Essex should have won the match with ease. Replying to a modest 229 for seven, Hussain and Stuart Law put together a superb century stand for the second wicket to carry them beyond 150 in the 35th over.

Victory was theirs for the taking, but Essex are no strangers to surrendering winning positions.

In a matter of seven overs, they crashed from 151 for one to 184 for seven, with Mark Ealham sending them on the slippery slope.

He took three wickets in the space of a couple of overs, embarking on his destructive course by ending the Hussain/Law stand after it was worth 120 in 24 overs.

Law had cruised to 64, containing nine fours and a six, from 72 deliveries when he put up a simple catch to Angus Fraser when driving.

Ronnie Irani and Tim Walton quickly followed, before Adam Hollioake later snared Paul Grayson and Hussain in the same over.

Hussain's fine innings, one lasting 117 balls and containing ten boundaries, ended when a mistimed pull presented Graham Thorpe with an easy catch.

The clatter of wickets continued when Ashley Cowan fell lbw to Ealham without scoring, a success which gave the medium paceman his fourth wicket in a five over spell costing nine runs.

Barry Hyam led a brave effort from the tail enders but in the end was left unbeaten with 20 as Peter Such managed just a single off the final delivery when three runs were required.

Earlier England were plunged into trouble by Mark Ilott and Cowan. They found themselves 29 for three in the ninth over but were revived by a magnificent 88 from 127 balls by Thorpe.

Of the other batsmen, only Ealham, with an unbeaten 37, topped the 20 mark against an attack in which Ilott, Cowan and Irani each emerged with two wickets.

Essex also suffered defeat on Saturday against Bangladesh, going under by five runs in a match hit by rain.

An unbeaten 108 from 94 deliveries by Khaled Mahmud carried Bangladesh to 263 for seven from 50 overs, to which Essex replied with an opening stand of 62 from Paul Prichard and Stuart Law, both of whom were dismissed for 32.

A hold up because of rain left Essex with a revised target of 205 in 34 overs and they finally closed on 199 for eight.

After their good start Essex lost half their side before the total moved into three figures, but Walton's 44 and Ilott's unbeaten 51 ensured an exciting finish.

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