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By Ben Kunicki BBC Sport Online

Nasser Hussain's defiant gesture after completing his century in the NatWest final may have only added fuel to the fire raging over his place in the England batting order.

The England skipper has consistently deflected all discussion of his preference to come in at number three.

But after reaching three figures for the first time in one-day internationals he could not resist some payback at the expense of his critics.

Hussain has generally received a good press from a notoriously fickle media and he suggested afterwards that his protest was directed solely at a group of ex-professionals.

Although Hussain mentioned no names, those ex-players include Bob Willis and Ian Botham, who in their position as Sky Sports commentators have consistently called for Hussain to drop down the order.

There is no doubt, as the Sunday Times helpfully pointed out, that Hussain's strike rate of 66 per 100 balls is not high enough, in fact it is amongst the lowest in international cricket.

Yet Hussain proved with his century on Saturday, as scratchy as it sometimes was, that having him at number three can be beneficial, particularly with free-scoring openers such as Knight and Trescothick.

Come Sunday and the papers were more divided over the proper reaction to Hussain's performance.