It caps a memorable week for the Surrey left-hander after his man-of-the-match display against Sri Lanka in the deciding Test in Colombo.

"It's nice to be asked to do this, and I regard it as a great honour," said Thorpe.

Hussain has been forced to withdraw from the final stages of the tour with a thigh injury.

Hussain will fly home on Tuesday with his reputation enhanced after leading England to their fourth series victory in succession and a notable winter double over Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

His Surrey colleague took charge when Hussain was forced to leave the field in Kandy and Colombo, but the selectors do not want to overburden the ever-willing Stewart.

He is likely to move up the order to replace Hussain as opener and with his wicketkeeping duties it is feared adding the captaincy might be a load too far.

Thorpe was the unofficial deputy to Hussain in Pakistan, and feels he is up to the task.

"I've done a little bit of captaincy here and there during my career - but I've played enough to know what's going on," said Thorpe.

"I haven't done a lot of it. But it is something I'm looking forward to and I'll enjoy doing it.

"It's unfortunate that Nasser has picked up an injury - but it's important he gets back and gets fit for this summer."

Hussain said it was a "big disappointment" to miss out on the one-day series but his priority was to get fit for the summer and Pakistan and Australia."

Thorpe plans to play in Wednesday's practice match against a President's Board XI at the Bloomfield Cricket Club.

"I just want to get the feel of being in charge and get used to the disciplines of one-day cricket again and go through a few things with the boys.

"It is important we keep our tempo up in this one-day series after the Test win, and we have three very hard games ahead of us.

"They're a top one-day side, and everyone should enjoy the challenge of taking them on out here."

Flintoff injury

Hussain will be joined on the flight home by four other members of England's victorious squad.

Michael Atherton, Jason Brown, Paul Nixon and Matthew Hoggard are not required for the one-day series.

England have flown their one-day specialists out to replace them. They are Mark Alleyne, Mark Ealham, Andrew Flintoff, Nick Knight and Alan Mullally, while Michael Vaughan will remain in Sri Lanka in place of Hussain.

England - to their annoyance - may yet have to seek a replacement for Flintoff. The Lancashire all-rounder arrived in Sri Lanka with an ankle injury and may not be fit enough to play.

The England management's anger stems from being unaware of the problem until Flintoff arrived on the island.

The series begins in Colombo on Friday.