Nasser Hussain plans to quit as England captain in 15 months' time.
The 33-year-old, who was awarded the captaincy in the autumn of 1999 and has since transformed England's fortunes on the pitch, hopes to hand on the responsibility to somebody else after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
He told The Sun: "I took over from Alec Stewart after the last World Cup and it would complete a natural cycle. "I don't want to stay in the job too long. The World Cup would be a good time to step down and let someone else take over.
"But, of course, I might get the axe before then if results go badly. I might not have the option of deciding when to resign the captaincy.
"If I do, I definitely won't be captain after the next World Cup."
Since the Essex batsman took over the job, England have lost only nine of the 27 Tests he has captained _ although his term in charge has been disrupted by numerous injuries.
He led England to four successive Test series victories over Zimbabwe, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during the last year and, although he was unable to maintain that momentum with successive defeats against Australia and India, Hussain is regarded as England's most popular captain since Mike Brearley in the early 1980s.
He added: "This is a big 15 months coming up, ending with an Ashes tour of Australia and the World Cup.
"I intend doing everything this year, totally full-on, and then handing over to someone else."