As the unravelling of English cricket continues on a global level, the new state of affairs has started to somewhat feel inevitable. The country that invented the game is spiralling downward.
The ECB’s obduracy has hurt the national team the most. The ECB have been reluctant to bring about changes in certain essential areas, the result of which has been annihilation for both the board and the team.
A change is what is required; a change that is going to do a world of good.
The sacking of managing director Paul Downton is a good start to what would possibly be a period of transition. Who could (and should) be the next director of England cricket?
Michael Vaughan, the former England captain and now a TMS commentator, has emerged as one of the favourites for the position. He expressed his interest in as shrill a voice as you would would want, and seems the perfect man for the job, not just for the player he was, but for the mentality that he possesses which would assure England cricket’s dominance in years to come.
One of the reasons for England’s continuous failures in limited overs cricket is the elimination of any room for innovation or dynamism. They have stayed as they were, and the measures to correct the side haven’t worked at all. They never will, given the way the modern game is shaping up.
Vaughan used to be one of the most aggressive captains in the game, and someone who was always forward thinking. That’s what made him the cricketer he was. What the Yorkshireman brings is an encouraging environment, whereby everything is planned to take the team forward.
Innovation will be given pre-eminence, something that Paul Downton never allowed to happen. Vaughan will certainly get the team to be consistent with his ideology – something that will be helped by the wider say he would have in the team’s affairs, especially after Colin Graves’ appointment.
Michael Vaughan always has been an honest evaluator of performances. You may find it on his Twitter feed, or the interviews he gives.
Paul Downton, though, is a contrasting personality. Never in his tenure could Downton make a brave decision based on current performances and we are well aware of the resulting events.
Vaughan is someone who can be gallant and brave, the best example of which is his calls to drop Alastair Cook in the recent summer.
“If you perform, you play; If you don’t, then you’re out” – that’s the ideology that the Tyke has and it isn’t a bad one by any means.
If a team has to succeed, then a few individuals have to be left behind and that can only be done by someone as Vaughan who analyses and reads the game well.
Also, he is one of the rare few in the country who believe in handing over the reins of the national team to the younger players, a trait that makes him all the more special.
Some poor decision making, lack of man management and pathetic handling of the talented players has beleaguered English cricket’s growth in the past two years.
They have kept going down, without any signs of improvement. Now that the time when changes are being made has come, the occasion seems perfect to make Vaughan the captain of the ship.
He is the man who can take English cricket to the top again.
NaBUru38
Guest
As a Uruguayan who has never watched any cricket match, I'll leave this list: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Leicester, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Southampton.
Homer Gain
Guest
You'll no doubt be able to provide links to demonstrate this "cutting edge thought process"? As for an earlier contributor's assertion that "Vaughan is someone who can be gallant and brave, the best example of which is his calls to drop Alastair Cook in the recent summer", yeah really brave, give him a medal.
eee
Guest
So you want to drop Ballance after his match winning 100 in the 2nd dig?
Jake
Guest
England need more than Michael Vaughn. Showing some courage and determination would be a start - it is non-existent throughout the English side. Watching Stuart Broad bat would be embarrassing if you're English. The guy is frightened of the ball. Having some half decent players would help England as well. Surely they've got XI better players than the ones who played in the last Ashes? Gonna be a long summer for England if they can't find some better players or at least some guts. NZ and Australia will win easily in ENgland
ChrisB
Guest
Vaughan was a superb captain, both tactically and in man management, and pre back injury, an excellent player. He certainly has a fiercely independent and cutting edge thought process, judging by his column and public comments, will be interesting how the entrenched interests who stifle Englidh cricket handle that
ChrisB
Guest
And yet you'll no doubt advocate hanging on to Cook, Bell, Anderson and Broad who were all equally culpable in the 5-0 thrashing, and were all equally destabilising if you think about it, through there advocacy against the teams best player.
JimmyB
Guest
We actually did have a speedster (Finn) but an Aussie broke him (Saker) and he wasn't under warranty.
Nudge
Guest
"Warne came out with a book after he retired". That's right, "after he retired"
JimmyB
Guest
In your rush to appear all knowing, you've listed a name that I'd love to see involved with England again, namely Graham Onions.
JimmyB
Guest
It's very easy to list a few of Pietersens misdemeanours then conveniently cast them aside as if they don't matter...when you have nothing to do with the England set up. Vas do you sincerely believe that KP is not playing for England anymore because he's a risk taker who occasionally (regularly) gets out in ugly ways?
Homer Gain
Guest
I didn't say I had a secret list of English speedsters (if only). I merely suggest that someone writing under the style of "guru" needs to be offering something more than "I heard this geezer was quick so pick him". Mills has done nothing in the last two years to suggest he is ready for Test cricket, indeed he may struggle to keep his place in his new county side having failed to impress many at Essex. Believe me, I'd love to be proved wrong. The bowlers dominating English cricket (for short-hand we'll call them Yorkshire) at present are the sort of medium-quicks who went out of fashion in test match cricket twenty years ago. As for Pietersen, it's just not going to happen (as much as Aussie fans would love to see him screwing up the English game once more). Even if we were to exclude his multiple indiscretions, what has he done, in any cricketing format, to suggest that someone who played a full and ignominious part in the debacle of the 2013-14 Ashes, has suddenly re-discovered the form of his earlier years?
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
Warne came out with a book instead after he retired where he had the gall to rate his Victorian teammate Darren Berry ahead of the likes of Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist - and it was done with all the subtlety of a 15-year-old boy going after his first crush. It was clearly intended as a way to undermine his teammates. Pietersen was just more stupid in how blatant he let his anger show. What he did to Strauss was a disgrace. The role he played in the first Peter Moores era was also wrong. But again, you speak of one side, and completely disregard the English cricket culture in which conservatism rules the roost and punishes people like him who get out in ugly ways, yet this same style has won games for England. You said it yourself: the chances of Cook, Anderson and Broad allowing him back into the changerooms... is zilch. Since when were they selectors? They are players, and if I was Cook and Broad, I'd be very keen to get back into some form quick smart rather than focusing energy on preventing a former teammate from returning. Fact is that if England wants to win the Ashes, they need some players who will go for it amongst all those who will seek to conserve. Or don't pick him and watch Starc, Harris, Johnson and Hazlewood, plus Lyon and Ahmed take 100 wickets this English summer.
Nudge
Guest
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
Homer Gain, I'm more than happy for you to volunteer a name or two that can ruffle Aussie skins. If your reply involves the likes of Bresnan, Jordan, Onions, Plunkett, or God forbid, Steven Finn, England may as well not bother showing up. England's problems are deeply embedded on a culture of conservatism - one in which I previously mentioned that any team with a dash of daring and a modicum of consistency can easily dismantle. They need to take risks, and allow themselves to fail in the pursuit of ambition, rather than fail in the "please don't hurt me" attitude. Kevin Pietersen is critical to England's chances. England played their best cricket when KP was combining his wares with his teammates. While he is not a perfect individual, it speaks volumes of England's poor management skills they cannot bring one player into line.
Nudge
Guest
Vas, to say Pietersens individual streak and idiosyncrasies are no different to what Australia had to put up with Warne is absolute garbage I'm sorry. Warne never came out and wrote a book slagging off his team mates in any other media outlet, or he never made contact with an opposition team or player advising the best way to get a teammate out. What he did to Strauss was an absolute disgrace, and how he was ever let back into the dressing room again was unbelievable. The chances of Cook, Anderson and Broad allowing him back into the changerooms and even Moores is zilch.
Homer Gain
Guest
Got to love it when Aussies start picking English teams particularly on the basis that "I've never seen him play but I hear he's quick". And much as you guys would love it, the only way KP will be in the Ashes is if you pick him. The prospect of KP and David Warner in the same dressing-room would surely evoke the type of witty badinage that only Dorothy Parker and Oscar Wilde could muster.
Homer Gain
Guest
Michael Vaughan is one of those prolix individuals - sadly all too common in the age of instant opinion making - who manages to take both side of an argument and still end up in the wrong. A very talented batman. A mediocre Captain. And a media commentator who has never seen discretion as the better part of inanity. Speaking as a Yorkshireman (and therefore, self-evidently right), I would despair if this light-weight really is the best that English cricket can come up with to end the current malaise.
Bearfax
Guest
Root will have to establish himself more in the side but he certainly has talent. Yes I can see your logic. Fair call.
Vas Venkatramani
Guest
Bearfax, the only reason I go against Bell is that he is very much in the Alastair Cook mould - quiet, efficient, soft spoken. England need someone who has a bit of grit and some mongrel. Whenever I see Joe Root, I see a talented player, but someone who looks like he has a steely glint about it. He is a risk, but England need to begin taking risks with their cricket and see where it takes them. Other thing is that Bell will be 33 this year - and at best will only lead England for a short while. Whereas England can start a new culture with Joe Root. He commands his place in the team through runs alone, his peers respect him, and he can be given the freedom to possibly have a slow start and learn the captaincy around a group of experienced heads.
Bearfax
Guest
As someone who loves a good competitive match, I truly hope England get their act together and give Australia a real run for their money. But for me I would pick Bell as English captain. They need someone new and fresh, and Bell has all the markings of a tough uncompromising type in the way he plays the game.