Nasser Hussain will receive no official sanction over his gesture towards the press box after completing his century against India at Lord's on Saturday.

The England captain could have been punished under the ICC's code of conduct for his outburst which was inspired by criticism he had received for batting at number three in the order.

However, match referee Mike Procter indicated he would not be taking any action, a stance backed by the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb.

"I would describe it more as a gesture of defiance rather than insulting," Lamb commented.

"If he had waved two fingers then that would have been a different matter, but he was just being defiant.

"We need a bit of passion in the game and he's a passionate person and it's his passion that is one of his great strengths and as far as I'm concerned it was nothing more than that."

Hussain has also received support from veteran wicketkeeper Alec Stewart.

"He's been under a lot of pressure," he stressed.

"There's been a lot of criticism of Nasser's one-day play and a lot of it has been very harsh.

"It was only aimed at two or three people in the media, all of which are former England cricketers who have been on his case and it was a bit of a release of emotions.

"Nasser has displayed good form in this series and showed yesterday what a quality player he is. He's the man for the job," Stewart added.