Cricket: Laid-back authority breath of fresh air

By ANGUS FRASER

After his seven-week trial in charge of the England one-day side, Michael Vaughan found out today what it is really like to captain his country when the second test against South Africa began at Lord's.

The rise of Vaughan from a batsman who had plenty to prove when he arrived at Lord's 14 months ago to the captain on whose shoulders the immediate future of English cricket rests, has been meteoric.

The Yorkshire opener's place was not under threat before the first test of last year but in the 16 tests he had played for England, he had scored one century and was averaging 31.15.

Nobody doubted his talent and temperament but he was underachieving and his test career was beginning to draw comparisons with those of Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick, two high-quality batsmen whose performances for England had failed to live up to expectations.

Today Vaughan returned to Lord's as English cricket's most influential and important figure. Their captains may no longer sit on the selection committee, but the image and direction of the game in England will be in the 28-year-old's relatively inexperienced hands.

For Vaughan, the timing of Nasser Hussain's resignation could not be much worse.

After his successful start as leader during the recent one-day series, he was always going to be the man to take over from Hussain.

That seven-week trial would have allowed Vaughan to look at the five tests against South Africa as an opportunity to ease himself gently into Hussain's shoes.

But Hussain's shock decision on Tuesday gave Vaughan only 48 hours to collect his thoughts and decide how he can lift England out of the rut they find themselves in after their disappointing performance in the drawn first test at Edgbaston.

Despite his inexperience Vaughan will have little trouble winning over his players. Nine of the 12 selected have already played under him during the one-day series and, as former England captains, Hussain, Alec Stewart and Mark Butcher will be keen to help out.

After watching the way he consistently looked to attack during his games in charge, tactics do not look like being a problem.

His toughest challenge will be getting his players to focus on this match and not be distracted by recent events.

While Vaughan settles in, the England coach, Duncan Fletcher, has a vital role to play.

Unlike Hussain, Vaughan is not the sort of character to march into the dressing-room and announce he is charge.

In the short term, Fletcher has to fill that hole left by Hussain.

He will need to be wise and not overshadow Vaughan, because a lot more takes place and more decisions must be made in a test match than a one-day game.

Even before Vaughan became captain it was easy to see the respect England's players had for him.

Such regard has not come solely from the volume of test runs he has scored in the past 14 months - 1739 at an average of 72.45 - nor from the fact that he is now compared with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara rather than Hick and Ramprakash.

The manner in which his colleagues relate to his pleasant, laid-back character is just as important.

When Vaughan was awarded the one-day captaincy in early May, he said he would lead the side in his own way.

Unlike Hussain, who ran the team autocratically, Vaughan wanted to involve the other 10 players in the decision-making process.

With a squad of young players keen to be involved, this proved a shrewd decision.

To have a new captain with a contrasting style of leadership is good for the team because he brings a fresh approach and exciting new ideas.

But his appointment may not be good news for older players such as Graham Thorpe, who are hoping to break back into the side. It is unlikely that Vaughan's vision will include those whose commitment has been questioned.

- INDEPENDENT