Michael Vaughan will go down in history as one of England's greatest batsman and their greatest captain. Vaughan has notched up 26 wins since he was appointed captain in 2004, the most ever for an England skipper.
Of those 26 wins, none will be better remembered in years to come than the two which ensured England regained the Ashes for the first time in nearly 20 years, back in the memorable summer of 2005.
His reign will be looked upon in the future as a golden age.
At the moment, however, there is a lot of discontent from the England fans, and there have been a lot of calls for his head following his poor batting displays against New Zealand and South Africa so far this summer.
Indeed, nobody can argue Vaughan is not out of form—so far in 2008 he is averaging just 28 with the bat, nearly half the 47 he was averaging in 2007.
There is also no doubt England are not as good as they were previously under Vaughan.
The last time England took on South Africa in 2004-05, they looked the better side, and came away with a 2-1 series victory.
Whilst this is still achievable for Vaughan's men this summer, most will admit it is unlikely, and, regardless, South Africa this time around look the far stronger side.
Couple this with how much trouble it was for England to beat a decidedly mediocre New Zealand team in the previous months and it is apparent England, in their current state, will struggle against Australia next year.
England's main problem in recent times has been scoring runs, which is odd when you see the abundance of batting talent the side has.
The one man who consistently turns in lowest score however, sadly, is Vaughan.
When he gets going there is no stopping him, but the problem is that it's getting rarer and rarer that he does get going.
A captain should lead from the front—it sounds cliched, I know—but he should.
Look at Graeme Smith: he opens the batting and very rarely is he dismissed without making a good contribution. The same goes for Ricky Ponting.This can only have a good effect on the team, it can only encourage them to go out and play. England need someone like this.
So who would I like this inspirational captain to be?
Well, I'd like it to be Michael Vaughan.
Having said all I have about him, you wont find a bigger Michael Vaughan fan than me anywhere. I still believe he has a lot to offer England as a captain and as a batsman and should be given more time to re-establish his form.
It's the old adage—form is temporary, class is permanent, and anyone that argues Vaughan is not a class batsman simply doesn't understand cricket. However, if he is still failing with the bat at the end of the tour of the West Indies this winter, it may be time for him to consider calling it a day and letting someone else take the reigns.
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2 months ago
If you're talking about leading from the front, I'm pretty sure the only person who could do that at the moment is Pietersen. No one else, except maybe Strauss if he gets back to his best, scores consistently enough or in a 'leading' manner.
The wicket keeper obviously isn't a possibility at the moment and none of the bowlers, except maybe Siders, look like leaders of men. I doubt we'd pick a bowler captain so he's out of the equation as well.
I understand your point fully but Vaughan is still the best man in my eyes. Fingers crossed his from comes back.
2 months ago
Strauss would be my choice as a replacement from the players in the squad now, but personally, if I had to replace Vaughan I'd bring in Robert Key as captain and opener and move Cook down to 3. Why the selectors continue to overlook Key, esp for ODI's, is beyond me.
2 months ago
Two words - Mike Brearley. He was one of England’s best Test captains, a master technician and an excellent figure head. Despite this he wasn’t a test match class batsman.
Vaughan is class, he is going through a dip in form, but will come back as he always does. Remember that he, ‘had hit rock bottom’ in the 2005 Ashes, before stroking a silky 166 in the third test, showing that he is England’s best ‘classical’ batsman.
If England are to win the Ashes next summer, they need Vaughan at the helm. His experience and innovative fields will be key. Added to this, who else is there to take over. Strauss is also going through a up and down patch, Collingwood isn’t in the team, for the moment test captaincy would distract Pietersen from his main job.
For the future, Bell, Cook and Broad would, I’m sure, make great captains.
Don’t be surprised to see Vaughan come back strong in the third test, and then for England to go on to square the series.
from 2 months ago
Unlike a lot of England players he does respond well to pressure, don't forget his career was nearly ended by injury and there were serious questions about his capabilities after his poor 07 world cup, but he bounced back strongly with a century in his first test of the summer and continued to play well until the tour of New Zealand. I'm sure he can bounce back from this dip.
2 months ago
I do believe that Vaughan is the only person with the tactical talent to guide this squad at the moment. I don't think he has lost his talent in anyway as a tactician. His batting form is unfortunate but there are few alternatives. Collingwood would be my favourite but he's shocking form, Pietersen has not quite got the experience to lead a team and as we've seen in the past Flintoff is wreckless and won't guarantee a consistent approach to test cricket. Keep Vaughan for the mean time but if he's going he has to go before the winter so that a new captain can fee comfortable come the ashes next summer.
2 months ago
Should we be picking our best eleven, or an excellent captain and the best ten? If the former, Vaughan is at least as lacking in form as Collingwood was before Headingley, and deserves to be dropped. However, I'd much rather see him captain the side than any of the other candidates, so perhaps the latter approach is the way forward. Perhaps too, a move down the order would be beneficial (to #5).
from 2 months ago
I'm not so sure about dropping him down the order, he's spent almost his entire career either opening the batting or at number 3, I'd leave him at the top where he's most natural and most comfortable to get his form back.
from 2 months ago
He's batted at 4 in 19 Tests of the 81 he's played - that's a quarter of his career.
2 months ago
He's not had much success down at 4 though, his average is just 32. It's 45 at number 2 and 41 at 3, which does suggest he is better at 2 or 3 by some way
2 months ago
Vauhgan has to be the most conceited and worst captain England have had for many years.
You state he was great in the 2005 Ashes series.
His performance was abysmal as was his batting in that series ie about 40 runs in his first 4 innings. He never made any score of merit except a dubious 150+ where he was dropped second over and was clean bowled by McGrath but deemed no ball.
Vaughan is an overpaid primadonna with no form or leadership skills.
So says Graham from Sark CI
2 months ago
Vaughan wont go before the ashes next year and so he shouldnt, he's a brilliant captain who sets fields he knows will eventually get a batsman out or is likely to get him out early in his innings.
As for the batting he is a class performer at the top of his game the best England have got (yes, even better than Pietersen) he has one of the best conversion rates in world cricket and its not very often he when he gets to 100 he doesnt go on to make a big hundred
If England were to change captain now they would be no where near ready for the ashes next summer and would be doomed to failure and Vaughan always seems to bring out his best against the Aussies so why not give him the one last chance that he wants and that in my view he deserves.
As for my pick to who would take over if Vaughan was to go then for me it would be Alistair Cook, the selectors obviously see him as a future captain and he looks like he would be well suited to the job, just because he's young doesnt mean he cant or shouldnt be given it look at Graeme Smith he was 22 when he took over South Africa and he hadnt really been around the team so long!
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