Vaughan: A good batsman, a great captain

He will always be remembered as the man who brought home the Ashes after almost 20 years. On this basis alone Michael Vaughan's place in English cricket history is secure.

But his greater achievements as a captain tend to put into the shade his outstanding record as a batsman. In the first few years of the new millennium he combined style and substance with such authority that he averaged 50 in Test matches.

Then he was appointed helmsman and the responsibilities of successful leadership did seem to affect his handsome batting: In 51 matches as captain he averaged about 36 and a career average of 41 does no justice to a classy batsman who was in the elegant mould of Tom Graveney.

As he departed the scene the man with the silkiest cover drive in the contemporary game said that he would want to be remembered as a 'nice player' on the eye to watch. That will be his undying memory as a batsman, though the fact that with 26 victories he was England's most
successful captain of all time .

Text: Partab Ramchand

Images: AFP (Unauthorised reproduction prohibited)

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