The Michael Vaughan Appreciation Thread

[Chivalry Augustus]

Amidst all the carnage of Vaughan's resignation, I thought it only fitting that tribute be paid to one of England's all-time great captains, one of England's best ever opening batsmen, and one of the world's most elegant batsman of the current generation. He has, as Morris put it, been a great ambassador for the game of cricket both within and without this country, and has in many respects brought the game to a whole new generation in England with his considerable achievements in English cricket. Personally, though I went off him a bit recently, I can now appreciate the man for the great cricketer that he was (not necessarily in terms of batsmanship, before anyone starts) and lay effusive praise at Michael Vaughan's feet.

We'll miss you, Michael, though not necessarily the you of the last eighteen months as I'm sure you'll appreciate. You, more than anybody else apart from maybe Duncan Fletcher, have provided England cricket fans with some of their greatest memories, whilst writing a great few chapters in England's cricketing history.

Thank You.

[Guest]

Okay

Shall we move on?

[DJ_Smerk]

He's served his time in English cricket and has done his fair share of good, but unsurprisingly it also come's with the bad. Currently, 18 odd centuries to his name with a couple more years of Cricket left in him, could get 22+ without the pressure of Captaincy and with his subliminal stroke play the best years of Vaughan the Cricketer, not the Captain are yet to come I feel. That is once he overcomes his poor form.

[LeFromage]

Thanks for quitting. I appreciate it.

He was a terrific captain for England, but his batting throughout his tenure was always a weakness to the side - he averaged 36 for his 51 games. In an era of top class batsmen averaging 50 and upwards, England rather carried his fitful performances, which was fine when the team was performing, but now that it isn't, his own contributions have come under the spotlight.

Like Fletcher, he probably stayed on too long once the decline set in, but you can't argue that England haven't had some of their best years under Vaughan's leadership (and Fletcher's, to be fair) and it's sad that it has come to a rather inglorious end - but that's the life of an England captain.

[Chivalry Augustus]

You're a miserable bastard with your statistics. It's support like yours, always demanding more, that makes you wonder if we actually deserve the small successes we do manage.

I don't call him God, nor even a saviour, but he was a fine player in his own right, and an even better captain. If this is the end, his achievements far out-weigh a petty statistical analysis.

[LeFromage]

Wasn't a consistently top-class batsman for the entirety of his tenure as captain. That's just a fact. If he'd just been one of the foot soldiers, he'd have been dropped long ago.

Miserable or not, that's the bottom line.

[Allan D]

MPV had two purple patches, both against Australia, one as a batsman in 2002-3 and one as a captain in 2005. Apart from that his successes were generally against weak sides, his failures against strong ones. Even had he been fit to captain in 2006-7 I don't think the result would have been any different and he would have stepped down after that series.

[PeterCS]

Played, Gus.

[Chivalry Augustus]

There's a plethora of English batsman averaging less than 40 over a prolonged period of time currently, something you are keen to point out regularly, very few of whom have been dropped. Vaughan, rightly or wrongly, was considered an all-rounder in the minds of the selectors, and was for much of his reign among the five best batsmen in England.

[Gary 111]

As a batsman (although it might be a bit soon to start writing an obituary yet)

It might seem strange to say this now, but Vaughan was seen as a bit of an Atherton type resolute and defensive batsman initially. He played his first dozen or so Tests without scoring a century but often helping the team such as his crucial and gritty 41 at Lords, and valuable half centuries at Headingley vs WI and in Cronje's fateful declaration match in South Africa.

However in 2002 he blossomed into a brilliant batsman, far exceeding initial modest expectations - his 195 and 197 against India were two of the most technically brilliant and dazzling innings of recent times. The following Winter all I remember was long sleepless nights staying up to watch England get comprehensively thrashed by Steve Waugh's Australia. While 10 of the team folded and crumpled time after time, Vaughan drove, cut and pulled the great Australian bowlers with imperious ease. The way he wrested the initiative from McGrath and Gillespie by pulling deliveries off a length laid the blueprint for the attacking philosophy England would employ in 2005.

After becoming captain these innings became fewer and far between as Vaughan often was troubled by full swinging deliveries, but occasionally he would flicker to life and on his day there hasn't been an English batsman since Gower that you would rather watch get a ton than Vaughan.


As a captain:

I feel Vaughan is always going to be remember primarily for the Ashes and 2005, but there is a little more to it than that. Following on from hard taskmaster Hussain was perfect for him and his additional attacking flair allowed bowlers such as Harmison, Flintoff, Jones and Hoggard to perform to their best.

The England team was actually at its best in 2004, suddenly and unexpectedly rising out of the troubled tour to Sri Lanka to become (briefly) the best in the world for the following 18 months. A decent West Indies side was pummeled 3-0 in their own back yard - the sight of Steve Harmison roaring in to bowl at cowering Windies batsman with 8 slips and a short leg was incredible to witness and few could have predicted 20 years ago that the tables would be turned like this. Then the following summer the strongest ever New Zealand team (except for the Hadlee outfits of the 80s) was ruthlessly defeated 3-0 before the Windies copped it again 4-0. A run of 11 wins and 1 draw from 12 Tests with batsmen churning out centuries from all angles and fast bowlers taking wickets for fun.

The series win in South Africa was arguably up there with the Ashes - a hard fought 2-1 win, which England will do well to repeat any time soon. The cracks by now were starting to appear, Geraint Jones loss of form and lack of wicket-keeping options, Harmison's wonky radar and the absence of Thorpe's gritty middle order batting. Despite all this we all know what happened next - 4 of the greatest Test matches any of us will ever see and England regaining the urn by the narrowest of margins thanks to Herculean performances from Flintoff, Jones and Pietersen.

Perhaps the defining moment of Vaughan's captaincy, was a few balls before that Kasprowicz dismissal at Edgbaston. When Brett Lee smashed a wide half volley through the covers it seemed briefly as if Australia had won, but a well positioned sweeper was there to stop the boundary. Throughout the series Vaughan managed to attack and apply pressure to the Australian batsmen while still defending the boundries with strategic fields. In a similar Test match in South Africa a few months later Clark and Kasprowicz won the game for Australia, partially because the captain Smith didn't position a similar sweeper on the offside.

However, at his best Vaughan was shrewd and aggressive, this eventually became somewhat over complicated, with fields often becoming too clever for their own good and disrupting the harmony of the bowlers expecting to bowl to them. Following a harrowing 18 months when he fought to regain fitness England still played good cricket at times, but never with the same intensity and consistency as before. There followed a series of if only moments - such as Sreesanth's lucky escape from an LBW at Lords, letting a strong position slip in the first test in Sri Lanka by dropping Jayawardena twice, and finally this Test Series where an inability to bowl South Africa out at Lords and to get Smith out at Edgbaston have cost England the series.

In the last 15 months England have generally played only in patches and only brittle sides like the West Indies and New Zealand were beaten while strong outfits like India, Sri Lanka and now South Africa have all narrowly edged out England by riding the punches and hitting back with stronger counter atttacks.

[Big_Bad_Bob]

Aaaaagh!

Paragraphs Gary, paragraphs!

[PeterCS]

Well said, though.

[Apart from the "was struggled by"]

[Gary 111]

Fixed! And double fixed!

[Big_Bad_Bob]

Fixed! And double fixed!

Much better and more readable, fella!

And well worth the effort. Good summary.

Perhaps the defining moment of Vaughan's captaincy, was a few balls before that Kasprowicz dismissal at Edgbaston. When Brett Lee smashed a wide half volley through the covers it seemed briefly as if Australia had won, but a well positioned sweeper was there to stop the boundary.

Was sat just beyond the third man as that stroke screamed through the covers, and had a horrible sinking feeling as it did so, while the large group of Aussies just to our left were out of their seat cheering.

Was an awful moment that looked like capping what had been a throughly tortuous last hour or so as the increasingly confident Aussies counted down every run in increasingly loud song.

Fair to say I've never been so glad to see KP before or since!

And as for what happened next . . .

[JKLever]

I think the very fact that we were feet and inches from going 2-0 down in that series made it all the more sweeter winning in the end.

Infact thinking back, It wasn't until we actually went 2-1 up at Trent Bridge that I had actually twigged we might win the Ashes.

I was just enjoying the fact that we were competing with them, especially after the ever so dissapointing 1st test...

[Big_Bad_Bob]

Ditto.

[Gary 111]

I never thought England would ever beat Australia until Warne and McGrath retired.

[PlanetPakistan]

Good thread Augustus.

His partnership with Fletcher was outstanding, they turned ENG from one of the most boring teams to THE most exciting team in the world(Ashes 05).
Winning 6 series in a row INCLUDING the Ashes was brilliant.

[SG]

Vaughan's five best and worst moments

[SG]

Incidentally, the first and last test captain against whom Vaughan suffered his first ('03) and last ('08 ) test defeats as Eng captain was Smith.

[*Buckaroo*]

michael vaughn has resigned as england captain.

another one 'lacking in moral fiber' to combat the rebels. SA ran all over them.

the moorish KP has been drafted in. the playing fields of harrow and eton
no longer produce the right types to lead the empire it seems.

[Merlin]

Bucks is back folks!
And, breaking news .............

[taipan]

michael vaughn has resigned as england captain.

another one 'lacking in moral fiber' to combat the rebels. SA ran all over them.

the moorish KP has been drafted in. the playing fields of harrow and eton
no longer produce the right types to lead the empire it seems.

No, it appears to be the playing fields of Pietermaritzburg.

[freddled gruntbuggly]

Maybe England should hire the playing fields of Minki van Westhuitzen . . .

[taipan]

Maybe England should hire the playing fields of Minki van Westhuitzen . . .

Might have to clear the bush first.

I'll get me coat...

[Sponsored content]