The case for recalling Michael Vaughan as England test captain

[Pavilionaire]

In sport, as in life, there are certain occasions when a nation or a team cries out for a man to step into the breach and sort out a mess. I'd suggest the England cricket team needs Vaughan now in the same way that Britain needed Churchill in 1939.

There are many reasons for recalling him, but I honestly don't see ANY downside at all. Nobody is scoring any runs at No. 3 and both Bell and Shah have shown themselves to be insular, nervous batsmen in that position. I'd suggest Vaughan couldn't do any worse, but regardless of batting form he'd unite the side and bring more tactical guile and fight to the side.

It's worth bearing in mind that one of England's greatest captains was Mike Brearley, a batsman who played 39 tests without a century and finished with a test average of 22.88, yet led us to Ashes glory in 1981.

 

[sten_super]

In sport, as in life, there are certain occasions when a nation or a team cries out for a man to step into the breach and sort out a mess. I'd suggest the England cricket team needs Vaughan now in the same way that Britain needed Churchill in 1939.

There are many reasons for recalling him, but I honestly don't see ANY downside at all. Nobody is scoring any runs at No. 3 and both Bell and Shah have shown themselves to be insular, nervous batsmen in that position. I'd suggest Vaughan couldn't do any worse, but regardless of batting form he'd unite the side and bring more tactical guile and fight to the side.

It's worth bearing in mind that one of England's greatest captains was Mike Brearley, a batsman who played 39 tests without a century and finished with a test average of 22.88, yet led us to Ashes glory in 1981.

The case for not recalling MV:
- it would probably piss Strauss off if he was stripped of the captaincy
- 'the current incumbants are crap' is not, IMO a reason for him to win his place back. Would rather see Bopara there.
- the last time he played for England (and he noticeably didn't follow it up with runs for Yorkshire) his head looked in completely the wrong place (mentally, rather than technically!) for playing cricket. Has that sorted itself out?

 

[Mellotron]

Was it the right decision to bring Micky Adams back?

I had considered a recall to the side for Vaughan, but not as captain.

 

[Silent Bob]

Number 3 is a problem position but Vaughan has done nothing to be recalled, and his dropping was long overdue. I don't see why Strauss should be stripped of the captaincy either.

 

[bhafc99]

Good to see Matt Prior right up the batting averages. Only Bopara had a 'better' average, but as that was from one N.O. innings it hardly counts.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/table/2009/mar/11/cricket-england-batting-averages-west-indies

 

[crasher]

Happily for me I've got little or no interest in cricket but hasn't the time come for the England cricket team to voluntarily withdraw from international competition for a couple of years?

It would stop them embarrassing the entire country with their performances.

 

[keaton]

Bopora will come in for Shah and bat at 3, as he does for Essex a lot of the time.
Strauss hasn't done anything horribly wrong and should be given time to prove himself as a captain.
Vaughan had lots of time to prove himself as batsmen and captain and he was awful as a batter and didn't look to great a captain in the last couple of years.

 

[keaton]

Happily for me I've got little or no interest in cricket but hasn't the time come for the England cricket team to voluntarily withdraw from international competition for a couple of years?

It would stop them embarrassing the entire country with their performances.

So you were embarassed by a team you have little or no interest in?

Your life sounds f***ing wicked

 

[ezzoud]

What would Vaughan have done differently this series to Strauss?

He isn't the groundsman and I don't believe he would have made any of the bowlers bowl any better.

Genuine question - what do you think he would have done differently?

 

[Jello]

Happily for me I've got little or no interest in cricket but hasn't the time come for the England cricket team to voluntarily withdraw from international competition for a couple of years?

It would stop them embarrassing the entire country with their performances.

By that logic, would you include England football and BHA?

 

[Pavilionaire]

Strauss has misjudged 2 declarations, and not only that but yesterdays was WAY too late. He tells the press he's willing to risk losing the match in order to win it, but ends the day telling the press that by batting til lunch he'd eliminated all chance of a Windies win!

If the ECB think we can win the Ashes with Strauss as captain they're wrong because he is simply too defensive. Putting in Anderson as nightwatchman when we needed quick runs was a shocking decision, as was letting the batting drift later that morning. Similarly, we amassed our 560-odd runs in this test at 4 an over off joke bowlers. Even 4.5 runs an over would have bought another 45 mins later in the match.

And there IS evidence that Vaughan is a bigger risk-taker as captain.

I acknowledge that including Vaughan is a bit of a gamble, but is it any more of a gamble than, say, bringing in Amjad Khan into a must-win test match?

 

[Uncle Buck]

Vaughan may get in the side if he gets runs for Yorkshire. Shah is not a number 3, but I suspect they will stick with him for the Windies home series. Interestingly in the field we really missed Bell, as he can field in the close in areas, which nobody else seemed capable of doing.

The positive from this last test is that Prior can bat at 6, meaning that Freddie can move down the order and not have to play such a responsible role as a batsman.

The bowling options looked completed messed up. Freddie, Swann and Broad will probably play agains the Aussies, but the rest of the places are up for grabs. Harminson looks like he is on his way back to the counties, bleating in his newspaper column really is not the way forward. Sidebottom is finished as a test bowler. Having to bowl that bit faster at test cricket really has taken his toll on him. It was a good move by Moores to bring him back, but it is over now. Anderson, well he bowled well this series at times, with no reward. If Jones starts the season well, I can see him coming in, after all we have not taken 20 wickets once in a game this series. Also if Hoggard starts well for Yorks, he could be back, although he was poor last season. Also I would not be surprised to see Plunkett reappear on the ECB radar, as long as Mahmood is nowhere near the side...

 

[Pavilionaire]

So what, if as is likely Vaughan DOES get runs for Yorkshire? Does Strauss continue as captain having just thrown away the Windies series with two ill-timed declarations?

Vaughan is only 3 matches away from equalling England's all-time captaincy record, and he has an excellent winning record to boot. Has Strauss REALLY got the stomach for the fight against the Aussies? Being an opening bat also loads the pressure on a captain as Atherton would testify.

Then there is the question of finding a bowling attack. Neither Flintoff, Pietersen or Strauss have got the best out of Harmison, while Vaughan has worked for years alongside his county colleague Hoggard. It looks likely that they, like Simon Jones, will be in the shake up for places come the 1st Test simply because competition is weak.

 

[Uncle Buck]

So what, if as is likely Vaughan DOES get runs for Yorkshire? Does Strauss continue as captain having just thrown away the Windies series with two ill-timed declarations?

Vaughan is only 3 matches away from equalling England's all-time captaincy record, and he has an excellent winning record to boot. Has Strauss REALLY got the stomach for the fight against the Aussies? Being an opening bat also loads the pressure on a captain as Atherton would testify.

Then there is the question of finding a bowling attack. Neither Flintoff, Pietersen or Strauss have got the best out of Harmison, while Vaughan has worked for years alongside his county colleague Hoggard. It looks likely that they, like Simon Jones, will be in the shake up for places come the 1st Test simply because competition is weak.

Not sure he will come in as Captain at this stage. Strauss will get the Windies series. If we go 2-0 down agains the Aussies after 2 and Vaughan is in the side and in form, then you could see a change over, but unlikely. Not sure Clarke and Vaughan get on, especially post Pattinson.

It was not Vaughan that got the best out of Harmison, it was Cooley and neither Freddie, Strauss or Pietersen had Cooley as bowling coaching whilst they have been captain. A real cock up by the ECB not giving Cooley the contract he asked for, especially if you look at how Johnson has improved in the last 12 months.

 

[sten_super]

So what, if as is likely Vaughan DOES get runs for Yorkshire? Does Strauss continue as captain having just thrown away the Windies series with two ill-timed declarations?

Simply put, yes. I don't see any indication that suggests it 'is likely' that Vaughan will get runs for Yorkshire. While I agree that Strauss made mistakes in this series, he is inexperienced as an international captain (which has more/different pressures to being a county captain, as he was for a couple of years), so I think it's to be expected.

Simon Jones will in all liklihood never play Test cricket again, his fitness simply isn't up to it. A shame, but true. You also seem to have cherry-picked your Harmison example. Vaughan got the 'best' out of him for 1, maybe 2 series? Out of how many that he captained him for? The bowling attack for the Ashes will be Anderson, Broad, AN Other and Swann/Panesar. So your only looking to fill one space. I expect they will go with someone like Khan, a real strike bowler, which rules out Hoggard.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Straus is decent enough as captain. Seems like they are grooming Cook to be his successor.

 

[Billy the Fish]

I don't see what the fuss is about the declarations. When to declare is possibly one of the hardest decisions for a captain to make, with the added bonus that everyone is an expert afterwards.
In antigua it was too late, but not by much and I don't see how he could've declared any earlier in Trinidad, on a pitch that we were managing just under 7 an over half an hour earlier.
A new captain is the last thing we need at the moment.

 

[Storer68]

vaughan on form is our best batsman by a country mile BUT he has only hit three hundreds and played 20 times for England since the 2005 Ashes.

play him purely as a batsman and leave strauss to worry about the press conferences.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Happily for me I've got little or no interest in cricket but hasn't the time come for the England cricket team to voluntarily withdraw from international competition for a couple of years?

It would stop them embarrassing the entire country with their performances.

Is the correct answer - who gives a shit about this poxy game.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Is the correct answer - who gives a shit about this poxy game.

Well piss off from this thread then.