Vaughan: I didn’t merit an Ashes call
MICHAEL VAUGHAN, England’s most successful Test captain of all time, admitted he did not deserve to be selected for this year’s Ashes, after confirming his retirement from the game yesterday.
The Yorkshire batsman, who led the country to glory against Australia in 2005, had pinned his hopes on earning a recall to the side in time for the series, which starts next week.
But he was omitted from the 16-man training squad last week after a modest return of 147 runs from seven county championship innings, and conceded that national selectors had acted fairly.
“I have not played well enough,” Vaughan said. “I haven’t had the rhythm or form to be picked for an Ashes squad. It has to be best 16 players and I am not one of those.
“Two weeks ago, I was in the garden with my little lad Archie. He bowled a ball that hit a weed and knocked my off stump out of the ground. When a three-year-old’s bowling you out, it’s time to move over.”
Vaughan said he had decided to call time on his career before his Ashes snub.
He added: “The decision came two weeks ago at Worcester when I realised there were younger players around the Yorkshire team, and certainly England, who need to be given a chance to move the game forward.”
Vaughan will be best remembered for masterminding the 2005 Ashes triumph, which saw them reclaim the urn on home soil after 18 years.
And the 34-year-old believes his former team-mates have every chance of recording another famous win.
Vaughan said: “I know they have the drive, ambition and abilities to repeat the success from 2005.”
STAT ATTACK MICHAEL VAUGHAN
&9679; In 2002, Vaughan smashed 1,481 Test runs with an average of 61.7, including six centuries. It was a record total by an England batsman and second only to Viv Richards
&9679; Under Vaughan’s captaincy in 2004, England won eight successive Test matches – a run which saw them rise from bottom in the world rankings to second, eventually culminating in the Ashes success in 2005.
&9679; Vaughan enjoyed 26 victories from 51 Tests as captain earning him the acclaim as England’s most successful captain. His win percentage of 51% compares favourably to Peter May’s 49%, Nasser Hussain’s 38% and Michael Atherton’s 24%.