Irony, if it hasn't already, will one day be used as a name for a footballer or celebrity's child. In cricketing terms it has gone hand in hand with South Africa for Michael Vaughan throughout his test career.
Right from his debut against the Proteas in 1999, things have never been that easy for Vaughan in test cricket. Coming in to bat at number four with his team 2 for 2, before he even faced a ball they'd collapsed to 2 for 4. The 33 runs that followed were full of grit, determination and moments of class that we're to mark his captaincy.
All those traits continued in the four years that followed. The fact that he made 76 at home against the West Indies at Headingley in 2000, when his team were on the verge of collapse, is forgotten behind the clatter of wickets that fell to end the match in two days.
2002 was his vintage year, when runs flowed against India and Australia. From July of that year to the game before he became captain, a year later, Vaughan averaged 72.70 with seven hundreds.
Then after the end of the first test at Edgabston against South Africa, Nasser Hussain resigned and Vaughan took over. A 2-2 series draw was followed by perhaps England's greatest eighteen months of recent times.
In 2004 they went unbeaten, winning eight in a row, as the likes of Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison caused havoc with the ball and Andrew Strauss made runs like there was no tomorrow. Series wins away in South Africa and the West Indies were recorded for the first time in decades.
Then in 2005 Vaughan became the first man in nearly twenty years to lead England to an Ashes victory. Good attacking cricket was played by both sides and the tactical innovations Vaughan employed, such as placing men out on the bounday at cover and mid-wicket to concede only singles and not boundaries, were copied by the Australians, a mark of their success.
After that, however, injury problems increased. Eighteen months went by without Vaughan playing in a test match. By the time he next boasted the Three Lions cap morale was low, an Ashes whitewash had happened and a poor World Cup and a change in coaching staff were about to take place.
Despite a century against the West Indies, batting problems re-surfaced. Struggles with form and the lack of key Ashes series members for one reason or another began to take their toll.
Perhaps too many things had taken place during that long spell out in 2006, too much trust misplaced and too many wounds created, but after that things never quite seemed the same. Series defeats became the norm, as did the merry-go round of players in the squad.
The frustration became clear on the face of a man who had done so much to turn his country's fortune around.
Following the latest defeat at Edgbaston, it all became too much. In five years as captain Vaughan won more games than any other England captain, but only averaged 36.02 with the bat.
Ironically in that last game before becoming captain, against South Africa at Edgbaston, Vaughan led from the front making 156, the sort of knock that Graeme Smith made to end his time in charge.
If Vaughan can regain that form he'll still have a place in England's test team and the final chapter of his career could still be a happy one.
1 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete