Yorkshire opener Michael Vaughan has thrown his hant in the ring to be the next skipper of the England one-day team.

Vaughan is the current  favourite to succeed Nasser Hussain, who resigned when England failed to reach the Super Six stage of the World Cup.

In a column written for the sports pages of a London newspaper, Vaughan disclosed how his friend and team colleague Marcus Trescothick, the other leading contender for the captain's job, would also relish the opportunity.

"The truth is that I would like a crack at the job if it came along and so would Marcus," Vaughan wrote in his column.

"But equally there is no chance of any rivalry developing between us. We have been good friends for a long time and have always got on very well together.

"That will continue, and, while neither of us is greatly experienced at the job, I would be delighted for him if he got the chance and I am sure he would be very pleased for me. It is out of our hands in any case, and obviously other names will be discussed as well.

"The fact is that, whoever is chosen we will not know how they will react until they settle into the job. It could make you a better player or it could prove to be a distraction."

Vaughan has been England's leading performer this winter and was man of the series as Australia retained the Ashes.

Some sports analysts are concerned his form may suffer if handsed the one-day captaincy. But Vaughan has won the backing of his home county with Yorkshire's  director of cricket Geoff Cope saying he would be an ideal appointment.

Cope, who is in South Africa, said: "Michael has proved his worth in this form of the game as well as at Test level and is the ideal person to take us forward. I think the players would have a lot of respect for him. He is a good thinker on the game and he is the right man to prepare the side for the next World Cup."

South Africa must take responsibility for their World Cup exit rather than blaming the Duckworth-Lewis method, says the man who developed the system to decide rain-affected matches. The rain rule was used in South Africa's final Group B match against Sri Lanka and sparked criticism after the hosts were eliminated from the tournament.

But Frank Duckworth, who devised the system along with fellow-mathematician Tony Lewis, believes Shaun Pollock's men only have themselves to blame.

"People are always going to be unhappy if they lose," Duckworth said in The Indian Express on Thursday. "South Africa lost because of their own mistakes.

"Both Shaun Pollock and Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lankan captain) had the same papers (with the run-rates). Sanath read it right and Shaun didn't," he said.

"As far as we are concerned, the rules were agreed upon by all countries before the Cup and no-one has complained yet."

South Africa's early World Cup exit has sparked concerns that the rest of the tournament could be played out in front of half-empty stadia.

The Super Sixes begin on Friday with Australia taking on Sri Lanka at Centurion and India facing Kenya in a day-night game in Cape Town.

And World Cup organisers have urged South Africans not to vote with their feet after their team's disappointing exit in the rain in Durban on Monday.

"Everyone is disappointed that South Africa didn't progress to the Super Sixes," said World Cup executive director Ali Bacher.

"We have shown the rest of the world we have the capability to host a global sporting event of this nature and we need the country to continue supporting in that way they have.

"I can understand South Africa's supporters' predicament, but we need the country to show how important the event is."

Australia batsman Darren Lehmann says England should choose Adam Hollioake to replace Nasser Hussain as their one-day captain.

Hussain's decision to relinquish the captaincy shortly after England crashed out of the World Cup has paved the way for the Surrey skipper to take over, argues Lehmann.

He said, "I think they should go for Hollioake because I believe he is the best captain by far in English county cricket.

"The selectors may think the time is right to go for one of the youngsters in the side, say Michael Vaughan, but if they were looking for somebody who has a bit of experience then they must consider Hollioake."

A "devastated" South African national cricket selector Pat Symcox has blamed the team management for the hosts' early exit from the World Cup.

"I was devastated by our early exit from the World Cup."

"How could we not get the figures right for our batsmen on the Duckworth-Lewis calculations? We committed schoolboy errors and the team's management has to take a hard look at itself. What happened out there was unacceptable," Symcox, a former Test player, said here.

South Africa were shunted out of the tournament in bizarre circumstances here on Monday after they were forced to split points with Sri Lanka in a rain-hit Pool B match which was declared a tie under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Symcox said after the disappointing exit, he was considering his future in the cricket structures of the country.

"Former players have a choice in South Africa. They can either stay out of the system, like Fanie De Villiers and Keppler Wessels, or they can try and make a difference from within."

"I chose the latter course. But you have to wonder if it's worth it when your efforts do not bear fruit. It's very frustrating sometimes."