Vaughan regains England captaincy
Discussion
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/crick
Michael Vaughan has replaced Andrew Flintoff as England captain for the one-day series in Australia. Vaughan, who led England to their Ashes series win in 2005, has not played international cricket since December of that year because of a knee injury. The 32-year-old is now fit following surgery and will aim to revive England's fortunes after Australia regained the Ashes with a whitewash. Vaughan's first test will be Tuesday's international Twenty20 match in Sydney. The tourists then face Australia and New Zealand in a triangular one-day series which begins against the Australians on 12 January.
England head coach Duncan Fletcher and chairman of selectors David Graveney have turned to Vaughan's tactical nous despite his mediocre record in one-day matches. In 74 matches, the Yorkshire man has yet to score a century, averaging 28 with a top score of 90, which was against Zimbabwe in December 2004.
"It will be a fantastic boost for everyone to have Michael Vaughan back as captain for the one-day series," said Graveney.
"It is to Andrew Flintoff's credit that he was prepared to take on the responsibility of leading the Test side in Australia in
"But Michael is the England captain and he will now begin the task of preparing the team for the challenges that lie ahead this winter."
Under Vaughan's captaincy, England have won 25 out of 48 one-day internationals. He will lead an inexperienced squad in the one-dayers with only five players - himself, Flintoff, Andrew Strauss, James Anderson and Paul Collingwood - with more than 50 caps. Flintoff had earlier expressed his desire to keep the captaincy and play in as many games as possible despite an ankle problem. However, Fletcher had revealed that leading England in the Ashes had been, "a very, very difficult job for him".
BBC said:
Michael Vaughan has replaced Andrew Flintoff as England captain for the one-day series in Australia. Vaughan, who led England to their Ashes series win in 2005, has not played international cricket since December of that year because of a knee injury. The 32-year-old is now fit following surgery and will aim to revive England's fortunes after Australia regained the Ashes with a whitewash. Vaughan's first test will be Tuesday's international Twenty20 match in Sydney. The tourists then face Australia and New Zealand in a triangular one-day series which begins against the Australians on 12 January.
England head coach Duncan Fletcher and chairman of selectors David Graveney have turned to Vaughan's tactical nous despite his mediocre record in one-day matches. In 74 matches, the Yorkshire man has yet to score a century, averaging 28 with a top score of 90, which was against Zimbabwe in December 2004.
"It will be a fantastic boost for everyone to have Michael Vaughan back as captain for the one-day series," said Graveney.
"It is to Andrew Flintoff's credit that he was prepared to take on the responsibility of leading the Test side in Australia in
"But Michael is the England captain and he will now begin the task of preparing the team for the challenges that lie ahead this winter."
Under Vaughan's captaincy, England have won 25 out of 48 one-day internationals. He will lead an inexperienced squad in the one-dayers with only five players - himself, Flintoff, Andrew Strauss, James Anderson and Paul Collingwood - with more than 50 caps. Flintoff had earlier expressed his desire to keep the captaincy and play in as many games as possible despite an ankle problem. However, Fletcher had revealed that leading England in the Ashes had been, "a very, very difficult job for him".
Vaughan is an excellent test captain. However he has a poor record in 1 day cricket both as a player and as a captain. He has also played no competitive cricket for a year. Once again the selectors are taking a huge risk with a player who is far from being match fit even if he is physically fit to play cricket.
I sense a feeling of 1981 here. Flintoff has always been regarded as the modern day Botham, Botham failed as a captain and the selectors brought back Mike Brearley. Brearley wasn't a great run maker but was a very good captain and got the best out of a team. Maybe they are thinking along the same lines.
Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff