Monty magic - he bowled the perfect ball, says Vaughan

Panesar bowled what Vaughan labelled the "perfect delivery" at Chester-le-Street, taking five for 46 to clinch the man-of-the-series award in England's 3-0 victory, a success which provides a tonic after their Ashes misery.

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His dismissal of Denesh Ramdin, as England shot out West Indies out for a secondinnings 222 on the way to a seven-wicket win, was the highlight of another great, crowd-pleasing performance from Panesar.

Vaughan said: "That delivery will be shown to left-arm spinners for a long time, because it was the perfect spinning delivery. He's going to put a lot of good players under pressure."

Panesar agreed: "That was a perfect left-arm delivery — pitch it on middle and it hits off stump. Luckily it gripped a bit. I've still a long way to go to be an automatic choice, but it's been a great series for me."

Panesar, who took five wickets for England for the sixth time, finished as leading wicket-taker with 23 against a modest West Indies side.

Even the injury spectre hanging over striker bowler Steve Harmison, ready to gamble on playing despite suffering a "non-serious" hernia now that he is close to his best form again, could not dispel the feelgood factor for England.

Vaughan had a caring captain's pat on the back for all his players, who will face a tougher series against India next month in good heart after a string of five one-day matches against West Indies.

He said: "Forcing a win here after losing a day and a half was tremendous. It looked a long shot at one stage but throughout the whole series everybody has contributed and that's a telling factor. There were times when we were not at our best, but we won all the crucial sessions. Every time we needed a partnership or a wicket, we got it."

Vaughan insisted that he had decided during the World Cup debacle in the Caribbean this spring that he would step down as England's one-day captain, and will not be named in Friday's squad.

He said: "I made a decision in my heart in the West Indies, but not one of the people I spoke to about it said 'stand down'. But I turned to my wife and said that it was the right thing. It's the right time.

"I was worried that if I said anything earlier it would be a distraction from the way we played in this series. But I don't have any worries about the decision.

"If in a few months I'm playing brilliantly for Yorkshire, maybe I'll be back into the squad. But the new captain deserves time to stamp his authority. If I was there it would be quite difficult.

"The two captains idea hasn't worked in the past. I'm very confident it can with this personnel. I hope the new captain does a magnificent job. Then it's end of MV. Paul Collingwood would make a good captain, Andrew Strauss — Kevin Pietersen has been mentioned."

Geoffrey Boycott surprisingly urged selectors to gamble on Pietersen. The former England opener, hardly flamboyant as a player, said: "They will probably pick Collingwood but Pietersen is one you should think about. He is different and original — you could say outlandish. I don't want to go on about what is safe. I want to go innovative, inventive, do something different."

Harmison will turn out for Durham against Essex in today's Friends Provident Trophy semi-final determined to play through the pain barrier and delay a hernia operation until after the India Tests.

He said: "There was no way I was missing this Test on my home ground. I'll play as long as I possibly can. If we can get through to the end of the summer, that would be great. The medical staff haven't given me a date and ideally I don't want to miss any Tests — but I want to be able to bowl at 90mph. If I'm only bowling at 80mph in the next week, we may have to look a it."

Harmison bowled 17 consecutive overs before and after lunch yesterday and looked formidable. Vaughan admitted: "I'm not too sure about the hernia, but if I'd taken him off he'd have given me what for! I don't know any batsman who would fancy playing against him in that form."