London, June 30: As Michael Vaughan, a major pillar of England’s 2005 Ashes success, prepares to call time on his career, the current group of players hoping to replicate his feat of four years ago have been quick to laud his contribution.
It is fitting that Vaughan makes his final press conference at Edgbaston – the scene of two of his most vastly contrasting days as England captain. The ground brought one of his finest moments, when he outwardly kept his cool while churning inside as Australia were thwarted, two runs from victory, in 2005, and it also brought his lowest moment when he trudged off the field last year having been defeated by South Africa. It was his final Test as captain, and – as it turned out – his final Test.
Vaughan desperately wanted to be part of this summer’s Ashes, but the body just wasn’t willing. His final Test appearance against Australia will remain that Ashes-clinching match at The Oval four years ago. It’s not a bad memory to have, but few would have imagined at the time that he would never have another crack at the Aussies.
Looking around the squad which assembled at Edgbaston to complete their Ashes preparations with a three-day match against Warwickshire, Vaughan’s stamp is still there to be seen and his influence may not quite have ended. “Michael Vaughan was huge to me,” said Kevin Pietersen. “He is a great leader of men and you learn a lot from guys like him. A lot of the senior players still communicate with him on a friendly basis.”
On the timing of his announcement, Pietersen was effusive in his praise. “It shows the great man he is,” he said. “He always knew the right time to do anything. To let Straussy know that he can continue leading the team and let Ravi [Bopara] know he can continue at No. 3, the timing is brilliant.”
Pietersen, who made his Test debut in the 2005 Ashes, and last year took over the captaincy (albeit briefly), still remembers the advice Vaughan handed out during a daunting ODI against South Africa at Johannesburg the previous winter.
“I remember one of the first things he said to me – coming in at The Wanderers to play South Africa in that huge series when 60,000 people were looking as if they were going to kill me. He walked up to me in the middle of the wicket and said ‘The ball is white; the ball is round, you know what you’ve done to get here, just watch it as hard as you can’.
“To be honest, that calmed me right down, from being a gibbering wreck walking on to that field to the player that I am now because that’s all I do now. I just watch the ball. That’s why when people say in series where the opposition is right at you I normally succeed because all I do is watch the cricket ball. I don’t think about any rubbish. I just watch the cricket ball.”
Andrew Flintoff was Vaughan’s key man during the 2005 Ashes, producing consistent match-winning performances for his captain. “So far I’ve played my best years of cricket under him,” he said. “He gave confidence to the team, I can speak from experience on that one, and he is a mate as well.”
Flintoff also followed Vaughan into the captaincy, beginning in India on the 2006 tour and ending with the Ashes whitewash the following winter, so he knows at first hand how tough the job is. “He has been England’s best-ever captain statistically,” he said. “He was unflappable. There could be mayhem going on around him but he always looked pretty poker-faced. He’ll go down as a great of the English game.”
—–Agencies