Stumps drawn for a truly great captain
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
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Michael Vaughan was a superb batsman but his finest talent was as a leader. His success as England captain had much more to it than mere figures. He was shrewd, innovative and tough as Yorkshire oak. He embodied the characteristic ingredients of England's captains from the county, Stanley Jackson, Len Hutton, Ray Illingworth – all of whom, like him, led teams that won the Ashes. Stephen Brenkley takes a look back at Vaughan's career in the Independent.
The pictures that will endure are the lovely cover drive, sometimes off one knee, and the front foot pull, as assertive as it was thrilling. His batting was splendid and frequently a thing of beauty but when they remember England captains, well then they will be really talking.
The public saw one side only to Vaughan: a batsman who could cover-drive and pull like a dream, and a tactically astute leader who brought the best out of his players. Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach, writing in the Guardian, believes what they didn't see was the gutsy fighter who could score 177 with a busted knee, as he did in Adelaide in 2002-03, or the burning desire which once made Vaughan furious with Fletcher when told that he couldn't play in a one-dayer at Bristol against the Australia because of a serious finger injury.
The truth was Vaughan radiated calm. It was one of his greatest strengths. But beneath that veneer – one I believe is crucial for any international cricket captain – was a toughness that few of his team-mates could match...I knew then he was the kind of guy I'd go to war with.
If the decision to prolong Vaughan's involvement can be seen now for what it was, then Vaughan himself should be spared from criticism because the timing and manner of a player's departure are for him and him alone, and self-delusion is a central requirement for all top-class sportsmen, writes Michael Atherton in the Times.
Vaughan's hopes for a fitting final act were encouraged by the selectors, who granted him a central contract last September. That decision can now be seen as either hopelessly deluded or as the gift of a bunch of sentimentalists happy to splurge other people's money. Either way, it was not a good one.
In the Daily Telegraph, Geoffrey Boycott ranks Vaughan alongside Mike Brearley, because they were both charming people on the surface, but underneath they were as tough as old boots.
Vaughan treated people as grown-ups, and made allowances for the fact that Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff needed to be given attacking licence. In this, he was different from Peter Moores, the England coach for his last 18 Tests in charge. The pair of them were never going to gel because Moores was so dogmatic in the way he handled players.
It may well be a career in the media or coaching after Vaughan decided to end a career that stretched 16 years. Nick Hoult and Paul Bolton have more in the same paper.
On the Sky Sports website Nasser Hussain says Vaughan commanded respect, and deserved to. Hussain claims that if one were to make a template for an international batsman then they should turn to Vaughan and the same goes for an international captain.