Wisden Cricketers' Almanack has been published every year since 1864 and has long been regarded as the�cricket world's most authoritative�source of scores, records and comment.

The new editor of the book, Tim de Lisle, is just the man to answer all your questions on England's disastrous Ashes campaign.

Charles Vivian, UK

Who do you believe will replace Nasser Hussain as the next captain of England?

Nasser Hussain will, I believe, stick it out, and lead the team for the remainder of the tour in Australia and the World Cup.

Michael Vaughan is now the favourite, with Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Adam Hollioake and conceivably Ronnie Irani completing a fairly thin field.

Trescothick and Butcher's chances have receded in the past three Tests because they are only realistic candidates as long as they are automatic picks.

Butcher has little form as a captain, and Trescothick even less. Hollioake is the best leader of the lot, but the only way the cookie would crumble for him is if he gets the one-day captaincy back and makes a better fist of it than Nasser has.

Irani is a great enthusiast and motivator who, like Hollioake, should bring the best out of the other 10 men, which ought to count for far more than whether you average 20 or 35 with the bat yourself - but unfortunately, it doesn't.

So my money's on Vaughan, who could be excellent. He's had lots of practice at lower levels, he has shown the wit and self-awareness to remake himself a Test batsman, and he has a wonderful temperament.

But he shouldn't be lumbered with the captaincy for another couple of years. For the foreseeable future, the best man to captain the Test team is Hussain.

Edward, England

Do you think that there should be a regional feeder to the England Test team?

The idea is becoming more attractive by the day. The Ashes have confirmed that the gap between Test and county cricket is still far too wide. But it could only happen if there was a sharp reduction in the amount of county cricket.

The English system is geared to quantity; the Australian system is geared to quality.

Vernon L. Fenty, Barbados, West Indies

Batsmen in the English County Championship Competitions of recent years have not been exposed to really top-class fast bowling since the exclusion of West Indians from those competitions.

As a matter of fact, England's cricket has declined at a tremendously rapid rate as a result of that foolhardy decision.

Do you believe the England authorities should turn about and invite West Indians back into the County Championship?

It would certainly be good to have more West Indians in county cricket. But I'm not sure it has much to do with England's struggles. West Indies' own performances have declined more sharply than anyone's.

They had a good win in the one-day series in India but in Tests, especially overseas, they have gone from invincibles to pushovers in a decade. It's true that only a few West Indians, such as Vasbert Drakes, get county contracts now, but there are two clear reasons for that.

One is scheduling - their home Tests now stretch into late June, and they are good at visiting the poor relations of international cricket, who tend to host tours in August or September.

The second reason is fashion. In the Seventies and Eighties every county wanted a big West Indian fast bowler, now they all want insatiable Australian second XI batsmen or muscular South African all-rounders with an English grandparent.

Justine Christian, Australia

When will England regain the Ashes: 2098, 2132 or 3234?

Probably around the same time that Australians get tired of gloating. Seriously, it would be surprising if the Aussies held the Ashes for another 20 years, never mind 100.

Great teams don't tend to stay great for more than a decade - look at West Indies, or Manchester United, or Liverpool, or even England in the Fifties.

Australia have been on top of the world for seven years now, and by their standards, their team is elderly. They are probably strong enough to withstand the loss of Steve Waugh when that comes, but you can see them fading in about 2005 when Shane Warne joins Channel 9 full-time and Glenn McGrath goes back to terrorising wild pigs.

Whether England will have resumed their improvement is another matter. The Ashes do tend to blow them off course.

Ishita, Bangladesh

Do you think that Australian Test opener Justin Langer will be selected in the 2003 World Cup squad?

Probably not, but he should be. The Aussie selectors, who do so many things well, have got their knickers in a slight twist over the World Cup squad.

They have lost sight of the first rule of selection: if in doubt, pick the players the opposition wouldn't want you to pick. If they just focused on that, the first XI would be Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting, Martyn, S Waugh, Bevan, Blewett or Harvey, Warne, Lee or Bichel, Gillespie, McGrath.

And they would give the last two places to Langer (a more influential player than Lehmann) and MacGill (the wild card). The role filled so well in 1999 by Tom Moody would go to Greg Blewett, who has made big runs in South Africa.

The role filled so well in 1999 by Steve Waugh would go to Steve Waugh. He is the best one-day captain there has been, and you don't lose that.

Imran, UK

Do you think England's pre-Ashes achievements were overhyped? In other words, were we led to believe before the Ashes that the current England was better than it actually is?

Not really. They won two series in a row in the subcontinent, something no Australian team has ever done. And they have been competitive against every other team.

They don't lose heavily to anyone any more, except Australia. But you're right in a sense. Every time the Ashes loom, English cricket gets over-excited, especially when they are in Australia, and there is a longer build-up with a whole month or more for previews and rash predictions.

In Wisden Cricket Monthly in October, they asked various wise men, and me, for their forecast. Nobody chose 5-0.

I went for 4-0 to Australia, and even that now looks hopelessly optimistic. The Aussies have made fools of all their guests lately, except New Zealand.

Golden Arm, NW8

I think the most successful periods of English cricket have been with sides with a decent-sized proportion of former public school boys.

I suggest that the current England side lacks the kind of strength of character most commonly built at public school to stand up to this current Australian side. Are there reasonable stats to back this arguement up?

Hmm, interesting theory. But you'll have to find the stats yourself. And it may take some doing. The only England team that has ever lost 5-0 to Australia, in 1920-21, must have been largely public-school because that was the way in those days.

Len Hutton did quite well in the Ashes, so did Ray Illingworth, so did Mike Gatting. There is a certain public-school quality which can be effective against Australia - an imperturbable nonchalance, as shown by David Gower and, fleetingly, by the late Ben Hollioake.

But there is no known connection between strength of character on a cricket field and an expensive education. Most of those who have done well for England against recent Australia teams went to state school: Graham Thorpe, Darren Gough, Mark Ramprakash, Graham Gooch in his old age, Dean Headley, Michael Vaughan.

And the Aussies themselves seem to do all right despite a noticeable shortage of old Harrovians.

John Hardy, UK

Is it fair to heap praise on the Aussies for beating an injury-hit England team? Personally I think they are over-rated. The stats show that their away form is not great, having lost series against Sri Lanka and India and drawn against the West Indies.

Their success appears to be predominantly against those over whom they have a mental grip (ie England and South Africa).

The point is that they are good but certainly beatable provided we get hold of 11 players not bogged down by constant mental pressure. What do you think?

I wouldn't read much into that drawn series in the West Indies. Brian Lara played out of his skin to win two Tests. Yes, they are beatable, but not at home, on all recent evidence, unless you really rattle them, stop them playing their natural game, get some help from the weather, and make them bat last.

Their recent overseas record is better than it looks on the Test Championship table because those series in West Indies and Sri Lanka came right at the start of Steve Waugh's reign.

This century, they have played 17, won 13 and lost only four, three of them to amazing individual feats, from VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh and Mark Butcher, and one to South Africa when the Aussies were in effect 5-0 up and more exhausted than motivated.