When the huddle serves a purpose

Towards the end of his captaincy, Michael Vaughan's huddle was often ridiculed. In his Manners on Tour diary in Supersport, Neil Manthorp talks to Graham Gooch, the first English captain who used it:

"It was back in 1989 and we were playing against Australia in Hyderabad in a one-day tournament, the Nehru Cup. For one reason or another we had to share a single changing room, which was bad enough, but all there was between the two teams was a flimsy bamboo screen. We were packed in like sardines," Gooch chuckles, "and you could hear every word anyone said."

"Australia batted first and put a decent total on the board but I thought we could get the runs. Before we started batting I wanted to chat to the team about our approach and the best way to put their bowlers under pressure. Obviously we couldn't talk in the changing room so we went onto the outfield. Because of the noise from the crowd we needed to huddle so that everyone could hear me! It wasn't something I thought would be repeated again," Gooch said.