By Jonathan Agnew BBC cricket correspondent

Michael Vaughan denies he's been bounced into the job of leading England.

But the reality of this week's dramatic events will hit both him and Nasser Hussain hard on Thursday morning.

For Vaughan, the moment when he walks through the Long Room and leads his team out onto the field at Lord's will be the proudest moment of his life.

Several yards behind will be Hussain, desperate not to appear too downcast or isolated, but also very aware that this is now Vaughan's show.

Vaughan (left) and England coach Fletcher

I believe Hussain's decision had as much to do with a wish to extend his international career than anything else, and he is now free to concentrate purely on his batting.

How he takes to life in the ranks, rather than as the leader, will be key to this, however, and unless he is able to motivate himself fully, he might find the forthcoming Tests extremely trying.

The main question to be asked of Vaughan will be to do with his form.

Will the captaincy affect his concentration, or drain him mentally and put a stop to the flow of runs that has propelled him to number two in the world rankings?

Personally, I will be surprised if he is adversely affected.

Behind the smile and the laid-back appearance lies an extremely tough individual - he would not be able to open the batting with such success if this were not the case.

Although Vaughan will be under the spotlight, it will be the bowlers who are under the greatest scrutiny

Unfortunately, opening batsmen can be dismissed cheaply - that is part of the game, and in Pollock and Ntini, Vaughan will be up against a decent attack.

What we must all prevent ourselves from doing, in the event of a couple of failures, is to jump to conclusions and undermine his leadership.

This is a long-term appointment and Hussain will be the first to tell Vaughan he must not expect miracles overnight.

One look at the Edgbaston scorecard will be enough.

England's bowling there was so dire that it really did not belong in a Test arena.

It sounds odd to suggest Anderson, Harmison and Co are more likely to be in form here, but they bowled so few overs prior to the first Test (none in Anderson's case) that it was hardly surprising they performed so poorly.

Although Vaughan will be under the spotlight, it will be the bowlers who are under the greatest scrutiny.

The weather saved them at Edgbaston, but the forecast suggests they will not get away with another awful display here.