 Bowlers such as Dominic Cork, Angus Fraser and Darren Gough now led the bowling attack with Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe and Mark Ramprakash supporting Stewart and Atherton in the batting.Yet the deficiencies in the system remained and a 3–1 defeat on their next Ashes tour and a humiliating exit in the first round of the 1999 Cricket World Cup which was hosted by England led to the exit of Stewart.His replacement as captain, Essex batsman Nasser Hussain, was the unfortunate holder of the captaincy during the 1999 Test series against New Zealand when a 2–1 defeat resulted in the country which gave birth to the game, being officially ranked as the worst Test-playing nation in the world.