Buzzin Cricket

As with anything in sport, there is always one particular topic that just won’t go away. In cricket, it is normally which member of the England cricket team is under pressure for his place. The focus has been on Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood for much of the summer, but now there are increasing doubts over Michael Vaughan’s place in the side.

The England captain has only scored 24 runs in his four innings against South Africa this summer and has just the one century in his last 22 test innings.  Even in his few appearances for Yorkshire, Michael Vaughan simply hasn’t delivered.

Of course, as captain, if his team was winning – he could probably get away with his own personal lack of form. However, after going 1-0 down in the series against South Africa at Headingley, England are struggling again at Edgbaston. After winning the toss and batting first, they were dismissed 231 with Michael Vaughan being removed for a first ball duck. The pressure of England’s most successful captain of all time grows by the minute.

Michael Vaughan’s batting form has been questioned before though. Like most international players he has gone through spells when he hasn’t been getting runs. He is used to answering questions about his batting. However, something that hasn’t been a major part of Michael Vaughan’s career has been criticism about his captaincy. Something which is beginning to sneak in. Selection confusion and poor team performances have caused this and I can’t help but think that the last couple of weeks have been the beginning of the end for Michael Vaughan.

I hope he turns it around, but at 33-years-old, perhaps he won’t have the chance to do so. I respect him for what he has done for English cricket, both as a batsman and as a captain, but things are certainly not how they should be right now and I think he knows it.

Let’s say Michael Vaughan steps down as England captain at the end of this English summer. It probably won’t happy but let’s just consider if it did. My biggest worry would be that there are no obvious candidates for the captaincy. The only man who would be capable of doing the job, in my view, would be Andrew Strauss. However, he is 31-years-old and still has to improve his batting form if he is to 100% cement his place in the team. There is no doubt that in terms of cricket betting, I’d be pretty stumped when it came to choosing the next England cricket captain.

For now though, the focus has to be on avoiding defeat against South Africa at Edgbaston. Things aren’t looking great at lunch on day two and if England do go on to lose the test match, it will be a home series defeat for Michael Vaughan’s men. Something that will pile even more pressure on the England skipper.