Refreshingly candid
Mike Selvey in The Guardian says that Michael Vaughan’s comments about Andrew Flintoff’s conduct in the World Cup are evidence that England’s captain is always ready to provide an honest opinion, unlike the usual anodyne responses by many
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
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Vaughan needs no special training, though, for ever since he became England captain he has provided intelligent comment whenever questioned. In St Lucia … he was asked about match fixing. Does it go on, Michael? He could have obfuscated, but it did not sit with what he believed. So he said he had no proof but his professional knowledge told him there were situations that gut feeling told him might not quite stand up to scrutiny. It was an honest assessment.
Selvey also says that the outcry in some quarters to Vaughan’s comments are over the top.
What Vaughan might find bemusing, though, is the reaction now to his candid words given that he is not revealing a state secret but reiterating something that was blindingly obvious at the time. Flintoff will be incandescent, say some, which might be the case, but will he be more so now than he was at the time? Is Vaughan telling him something of which he was not already aware and that the general public could not at least surmise?
Martin Williamson is executive editor of ESPNcricinfo and managing editor of ESPN Digital Media in Europe, the Middle East and Africa