Captain Unfantastic: Is Michael Vaughan letting the side down?

After the 2005 Ashes series, England came crashing down, losing their captain along the way.

Michael Vaughan’s 2007 return was met with huge relief by players and fans alike in the aftermath of a 5-0 whitewash in the Ashes return series Down Under. But has it been the glorious return some had hoped?   

A miserable World Cup campaign saw Vaughan, unable to make a single decent score, resign the one-day captaincy and make the decision to focus on his Test career. Most people agreed with his decision.

Despite making fewer runs than opening partner Ed Joyce, Vaughan was kept on well after the former was dropped, solely for his captaincy. A good captain is a must, but it is a mistake to keep one who cannot hold down his England place on cricketing merit alone.

Brushing the World Cup debacle firmly under the carpet, England then looked towards their first Test series of the summer. The West Indies went down 3-0 in the four Test series which saw Vaughan score his first century since his return from injury – cue sighs of relief all round.

The fact that five of his peers managed the same feat in the same innings on a flat pitch was pushed to one side as England declared that their leader was back to his best. Subsequent series’ have been something of a comedown.

Michael Vaughan has undoubtedly been a great talent and a great captain for England, but is he still? Some might say that his captaincy is only safe because there is no obvious successor to him.

A year ago Andrew Strauss would have been ready to step into the skipper’s shoes and lead England but battles for form have left him fighting tooth and nail just to be retained in the side. Andrew Flintoff’s captaincy is unlikely to be a selection repeated by the England management, whilst Paul Collingwood is still settling into the role of one-day captain. Michael Vaughan is the best, and seemingly only, candidate for the Test captaincy.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka were poor series’ for the England players and Vaughan was not excepted. Poor scores against New Zealand and careless dismissals are bringing his batting talents into dispute. England cannot hold onto someone not pulling his weight, captain or not.

Of course, recent misfortunes could prove to be nothing more than a blip. Come the summer Michael Vaughan may be scoring centuries whilst leading a successful side to back-to-back series victories over South Africa and New Zealand.

But if this is not a blip and Vaughan is still not doing enough with the bat to justify his place it might be time for one of England’s greatest captains to take a step back and make way for someone new.