Former England captain Nasser Hussain announced he was retiring from cricket three days after the 36-year-old scored an unbeaten 103 to steer England to a seven-wicket win in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's.

He hit 14 centuries and 33 half-centuries in 96 Tests.

Hussain had been thinking over his future since scoring his match-winning century at Lord's.

The squad for next week's second Test is due to be named on Sunday.

And with captain Michael Vaughan due to return for the Headingley Test on June 3, Hussain said he did not want to hold up anyone else.

"My time was up," he said. "The time's right to go. Age has been catching up with me a little bit."

Hussain, born in India, is just four appearances short of his 100th Test cap but with Andrew Strauss making 112 and 83 in his debut appearance at Lord's, he felt it was time to call it a day.

Hussain, who replaced wicket-keeper Alec Stewart as captain after England's first round World Cup exit on home soil in 1999, led England in 45 Tests, winning 17, losing 15 and drawing 13, before giving way to Michael Vaughan last July.

He had handed over the One Day captaincy to Vaughan after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa last March.

But he showed there was a lot of fight left with a couple of valuable half-centuries in England's 3-0 Test series victory in the West Indies which finished in April, their first triumph on Caribbean soil for 36 years.

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