Vaughan praises level-headed Strauss
Michael Vaughan was content - but far from satisfied - as he reflected onEngland's seven-wicket victory at Port Elizabeth in the opening Test oftheir South African tour
Andrew Miller
21-Dec-2004
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Michael Vaughan was content - but far from satisfied - as he reflected on
England's seven-wicket victory at Port Elizabeth in the opening Test of
their South African tour. A hard taskmaster at the best of times, Vaughan
warned that his side's performance had been "shoddy" in places, but set
his sights on taking a 2-0 lead in the series by the time the Durban Test
is over and done with next week.
"We're an honest team," Vaughan told reporters after the match, "and we
accept that we didn't play to our potential in this match. South Africa
should have been there for the taking after Day Two, but we didn't nail them as
we should have. We've been unbeaten all year, so it would be nice to go to
Durban and perform to the standard that we've set throughout the year."
Vaughan continued: "It's been a common theme with England teams for years,
that when we get on top in a match - and at 20 runs ahead with four
wickets down, we were definitely in command - we've often allowed the
opposition back into the game. In the end, an 88-run lead was pretty good,
thanks to the tail, but we should have been looking at 150 to 200 runs
ahead. Then it would have been game, set and match."
But it isn't just hair shirts that hang in Vaughan's wardrobe, and he was
quick to single out the performances of Andrew Strauss and Simon Jones for
special praise. "Strauss is a level-headed kind of guy and his attitude is
spot on," said Vaughan of England's Man of the Match, who sealed the
run-chase with an unbeaten 94 this morning. "He never gets too high about
his successes, nor too low about his failures. Technically he's pretty
good, but more importantly, the mental side of his game is excellent. He's
going to be a good player for us for many years if he keeps working as he
is."
For the first three days of the match England were in front, but far from
dominant, and it took an inspirational catch by Jones at fine leg to
remove South Africa's captain, Graeme Smith, and spur the side to greater
deeds. "All credit to Simon for his catch and his spell of bowling," said
Vaughan. "When Smith and [Jacques] Kallis got in there was a period when
South Africa might have got on top, but his outstanding efforts changed
the game.
"Simon's a huge threat with old ball," he explained. "He gets
reverse-swing into the right-handers, and the ball that dismissed Kallis
was a beauty. He's shown an outstanding attitude since arriving in
Zimbabwe, where he worked with Troy Cooley [the bowling coach], and he
fully deserved his rewards yesterday."
In the end, there was not a huge amount to choose between the team's
performances, but the key difference was England's additional experience.
Vaughan was especially satisfied by the manner in which his bowlers had
exploited the frailties of South Africa's middle order. "Even on the first
day when [Jacques] Rudolph and [Boeta] Dippenaar got in, we never allowed
them to get away. Ashley Giles bowled a crucial spell while our seamers
rotated from the top end, and then in the second innings, once Smith had gone,
we opened the door to attack their inexperience.
"Leading into the game, we were under a lot of pressure," admitted
Vaughan, after England's record of seven straight wins had been punctuated
by the defeat against South Africa A at Potchefstroom. "For us, the first
day was crucial, especially after losing the toss. All we wanted was a
good performance to put South Africa on the back foot, and at 270 for 7 we
got that, despite a gusty wind that made bowling very hard."
Ultimately Vaughan could have few complaints about his team's performance,
but he urged his players to push their expectations to the limit. "On an
individual basis, we need to set targets for big, big scores. Even Strauss
in the first innings, if he's honest, he'd have wanted a score of 180 to
200, and likewise [Mark] Butcher should have been aiming at 150, rather
than 79. You can't take the mick in this game, as it has a knack of coming
back and giving you some funny answers.
"The best thing is that we haven't played to the standards we've set
ourselves, but we're still 1-0 up," concluded Vaughan. "In fact, for
periods here we were quite shoddy. South Africa are a good side and they
are sure to come back strongly, but we're up for the challenge. They'll
want to hit us hard at Durban, but we'll keep ourselves honest, and keep
up the pressure."
Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Cricinfo. He will be following the England team throughout the Test series in South Africa.