Cricket: England's Vaughan grateful to Fleming

Ashes-winning England cricket captain Michael Vaughan is full of admiration for his New Zealand counterpart Stephen Fleming, and says he consciously emulated Fleming's unflappable style of captaincy.

In his new book, Calling the Shots - My Story as England Captain, Vaughan said that after his first game in charge, Fleming, who was playing county cricket in England at the time, sat him down and asked him how he was finding it.

"It was all new to me and I just said I was trying to learn as I went along, but that I couldn't believe the amount of criticism I was taking, especially when people said I was too laidback, calm and casual for the job."

Fleming told him that he had been criticised for the same thing, and not to listen to a "lot of hot air".

"He said he had got it in the neck from Martin Crowe during his first 18 months in the job, with Crowe constantly in the media saying Stephen wasn't tough enough and didn't show enough emotion on the pitch."

Fleming told him that emotion didn't win games of cricket.

"He told me he liked the way I was dealing with things on the pitch, that my mannerisms were pretty similar to his and that he guessed we were pretty similar people -- laid back and playing the game as we saw it; trying to be professional and thoughtful as we could, but realising it's not the be-all and end-all," Vaughan said.

Vaughan, who took over as captain from Nasser Hussain in 2003, was widely praised for his cool head and innovative tactics during last year's nail-bitingly close 2-1 Ashes win over Australia.

His style was in marked contrast to his moody predecessor, Hussain, who made his feelings on the pitch abundantly clear, particularly when his own players weren't performing.

"When I got the England job, I said I would do it my way, but my way was more a Fleming way than a Hussein way," Vaughan said in his book.

"Fleming kept his cool in all situations. He never seemed to get flustered, wave his arms about, kick dirt, hurl his cap on the floor or show any noticeable emotion if players made mistakes.

"He just controlled everything in a measured fashion although he obviously had harsh words to say in the sanctuary of the dressing room. His team on the field always appeared to have a huge amount of respect for him," Vaughan said.

He said Fleming also impressed him during his short stint playing for Vaughan's county, Yorkshire, in 2003.

Although Fleming didn't score many runs for Yorkshire, his presence was "immense", Vaughan said.

When he arrived, the club was in a bad state, with injuries, players coming and going, a new captain and only a temporary coach. "Fleming was a breath of fresh air. He grabbed the dressing room straight away -- helping the team knit together and gain a new focus and the results changed instantly."

He gained respect at Yorkshire, not because he was a big name, but because of what he gave back. "He never looked down on any player no matter how young or old or good or bad."

Fleming was clever, but was the kind of person who thought before he opened his mouth. "He doesn't speak for the sake of it, but does so when things need to be said and when his words will do some good."

Vaughan also drew another parallel between the two captains, noting how having world-class bowlers to work with had allowed both himself and Fleming more options on the pitch.

He said Fleming's reputation had been made when he took a young team to Australia in 2001-02 and held them to a draw.

"Without a good attack and that one world-class player, it's very difficult to set imaginative fields. But Fleming had Shane Bond.

"Once you had Bond bowling really well and fast, he was allowed to set weird and imaginative fields, something I was fortunate to do later with the likes of [Steve] Harmison and [Andrew] Flintoff," Vaughan said.

- NZPA