English umpires Peter Willey and Neil Mallender have withdrawn from the World Cup matches they were appointed to in Zimbabwe.

Before the tournament started both umpires, who are employees of the England and Wales Cricket Board and are standing in the World Cup as members of the ICC's supplementary international panel, had advised the ICC of their concerns over Zimbabwe.

Willey was due to partner Dave Orchard in the Zimbabwe v Australia match in Bulawayo, on Monday, February 24th, with Mallender as third umpire.

Willey was also listed as third umpire for the Zimbabwe v Holland game, also in Bulawayo, on Friday, February 28th.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "Both umpires had separately advised the ICC that if the ECB did not send its team to Harare, they would be reluctant to fulfil their appointments in Bulawayo.

"Since the cancellation of the England match, they have reconfirmed their decisions that they do not want to stand in Zimbabwe."

Willey said: "I advised the ICC some time ago of my concerns and indicated that if my employer, the ECB, did not send its team to Zimbabwe, I would be unlikely to travel to the country."

Willey has been replaced by Billy Bowden of New Zealand for the Australia match, and by Nadeem Ghouri of Pakistan for the Holland game.

Mallender will be replaced by Brian Jerling of South Africa, as third umpire for the Zimbabwe v Australia fixture.

Both English umpires will complete their other scheduled Group appointments.

Meanwhile, Michael Vaughan has put his own ambitions on hold to signal the England squad's desire for Nasser Hussain to continue as captain beyond their current World Cup campaign.

As the leading contender to become the next England captain, Yorkshire batsman Vaughan has most to gain if Hussain decides to give it up at the end of this tournament after admitting his frustration with both the England and Wales Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council during the recent Zimbabwe crisis.

Hussain revealed his thoughts before England opened their World Cup with a six-wicket victory over Holland in East London on Sunday, when he admitted: "I have to think more about the future after this tournament, I'm upset with the authorities and the way they've handled this situation."

But Vaughan, who has already led England at under-19 and A-team level, is in no hurry to replace Hussain - either in the one-day team or the Test line-up - and yesterday voiced the thoughts of all the squad after they arrived in Port Elizabeth to prepare for today's Pool A match against Namibia.

"Nasser's doing a fantastic job and we're all behind him and hope he'll continue," stressed Vaughan, who marked his World Cup debut with an impressive 51 off only 47 balls at Buffalo Park on Sunday.

"First and foremost the job isn't available and I'm just concentrating on my batting, it's my first World Cup which is a fantastic occasion and I'm determined I'm going to go out and enjoy it.

"But if after the end of this tournament or in a year's time the job becomes available then obviously I'd like my name to be mentioned but for now I'm just happy to carry on playing."

Vaughan has emerged as the leading contender ahead of Marcus Trescothick, after an outstanding last year when he scored 1,664 runs during 2002 to establish himself as the leading run-scorer in Test cricket and prompting Shane Warne to label him as the best batsman in the world.