Hussain to honour Hollioake

England hope to win the series in Hollioake's name

England captain Nasser Hussain has been selected to represent his team at the funeral of Ben Hollioake, who died in a car crash on Saturday.

In an attempt to minimise disruption ahead of the crucial final Test against New Zealand, Hussain will travel to Perth to pay tribute to the young all-rounder.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney has already flown to Australia from England's base in Auckland.

Quite a few guys wanted to go, but because of the logistics and flight availability only one could go

England coach Duncan Fletcher

And although there was speculation the whole squad would follow, England have decided their captain should be their sole representative.

Hussain will fly out of Auckland on Wednesday morning to attend the memorial service, but will miss the family cremation the following day.

He will return on Thursday evening, allowing him a full 24 hours to recover before he is expected to lead England out in their final Test of the winter at Eden Park.

Former England captain Alec Stewart and Ian Ward, who were team-mates of Hollioake's at Surrey, have confirmed they are also making the trip to Australia.

Butcher's tribute

England decided that spending two days in the air travelling to and from Perth would leave the players feeling jaded.

Coach Duncan Fletcher said: "The reason Nasser is going to the memorial service is that quite a few guys wanted to go, but because of the logistics and flight availability only a couple could go.

"We felt this could create problems for those who couldn't go, because how do we prioritise who goes and who stays?

"As a result of that we decided that Nasser should go and represent the whole team.

Ben Hollioake died in a car crash last week

"I think it's appropriate that as the captain of the squad, that he represents the side and he'll be going and coming back before the Test starts."

Hussain will join the majority of Surrey's first-team squad at the memorial.

Alec Stewart, Ian Ward, Ian Salisbury, Alex Tudor, Nadeem Shahid, Martin Bicknell, Matt Church, Ally Brown, Ed Giddins and coach Keith Medlycott have confirmed their attendance.

And the club's president, former Prime Minister John Major, is also due to pay his respects.

The England squad also plan to have a private ceremony of their own at the same time as the cremation in Perth on Thursday wearing their blazers and ties.

Mark Butcher, a Surrey team-mate of Hollioake's, has been asked by Fletcher to sing a song with his guitar.