When England lost two Tests in a row — a first for skipper Michael Vaughan — his inner soul poked through the steely outer surface and he gave up, writes Ted Corbett.
Sometimes it is easy to forget that underneath every polished, gym-manufactured, match-fit sporting super-body beats a human heart.
That is why so many watchers failed to see the twitch in Michael Vaughan’s eye, did not catch the significance of Paul Collingwood’s pride in performance and could not understand why it was that the two of them stepped down after the third Test between England and South Africa at Edgbaston.
Of course if you have been a successful leader of a winning Test team as Vaughan has for the last five years, if you have a contract that brings you a third of a million pounds a year and all the good looks, healthy body and the public persona that attracts sponsors, advertisers, bat manufacturers and the rest it is slightly easier to quit while you are ahead.
The rest of us often have to grin and bear the problems that come with the job.
If you are the one-day skipper like Collingwood with another big chunk of coinage paid into your bank account every month, free accommodation, a plate of nice food every time you feel the pangs of hunger and equipment makers prepared to give you everything from socks to caps it is also a lot simpler to drop the onus of fame and step into the shadows for a while.
The rest of us may be able to take a day off, or have a cup of coffee or swallow an aspirin or go and lie down when the going gets tough but somehow we also have to carry on grafting.
But underneath all that nice white clothing they are much the same as the rest of us and when England lost two Tests in a row — a first for Vaughan — their inner soul poked through the steely outer surface and they gave up.
Vaughan did so tearfully and publicly and, to be fair to the guy, he came across as a sincere man who felt he was not giving his team full value, that there was a danger of he and his family fighting if he carried on leading England and that he was monstrously distressed about the whole business.
Not for him the two cover drives and a farewell wave that Nasser Hussain showed in 2003; not for him the grim-faced step down that Graham Gooch gave us in 1993 or the lets-read-the-statement-and-get-out-of-here we had from Mike Atherton in Antigua in 1998.
“Guys,” Vaughan said to the media men he has clearly come to respect, “I have decided to step down as England captain.”
Just imagine saying that after 51 Tests as the boss, wearing that big sun hat, leading the team out, forming the huddle, standing at mid-off and being instantly obeyed every time you raise your arm.
It takes a big man to admit he is going wrong, that it is time to call the whole thing off, that — despite 26 Test wins and, until this debacle against the South Africans, only nine defeats in 49 Tests — he messed up. Vaughan will be remembered as one of the 10 top captains of all time worldwide. Leaving that is a huge blow.
What he did not say, but if you listened carefully you could hear, was that even when you are the top man in your own profession the family comes first. “My rock” he called them — imitating Princess Diana talking about her butler — and he did not break down until he told us what his dad said.
“You can leave as a proud lad because you always gave it everything,” said his father. We would all like our dads to think that well of us and when Vaughan remembered that moment his lip trembled and his voice broke.
But he finished strong like an athlete should. Collingwood, who may not have gone voluntarily — perhaps someone said it was a good idea and, proper soldier that he is, he fell into line — stayed in the background, told the ECB public relations staff that he wanted to focus on his batting, and headed home.
England had been beaten badly. None of the four innings reached 370, yet the margin of defeat on a good pitch was five wickets when some of us thought that they might win by no more than two wickets and maybe scramble home by just one, perhaps off a leg bye.
They won because they were the better side. It is not always the case. They cared that they had failed to win series in England three times since 1994 and that they had not won here since their cricket went international again at the end of the apartheid era. They won too with three men of colour — at least that is how their PR men want black and Asian and mixed race cricketers to be described, although I think that is patronising — in their side, who all played significant parts in both the 10-wicket win at Leeds and the five-wicket win at Edgbaston.
They won despite their reservations about the position of the pitch which was directly in line with the low windows of the pavilion rather than one to the right which offers a clear view.
It takes guts to win when you think — rightly or wrongly — that in an alien land every man’s hand is against you. They may have been right. The umpires would not let their 12th man help their sighting with a white towel hung out of one window and when Vaughan was asked if the sightscreens could be changed he said “no.”
Vaughan knew Andrew Flintoff would be helped by their problems lining up the ball and he seemed to have hit the nail on the head when Flintoff — furious that an lbw had been refused — steamed in hard and yorked the great Jacques Kallis.
The sight of that flying stump seemed to change to whole dynamic of the match, to turn events England’s way, to crush the South Africans. Admirably they fought on and, despite Collingwood’s finest innings, left themselves just 281 to win.
That was achieved by Graeme Smith, a giant Man of the Match, with a single objective who would not be denied and, finally by Mark Boucher who may not be the most stylish wicket-keeper and is certainly not the batsman you would give your last rand to watch but who has a heart that is bigger than his body.
I confess I have not always admired South Africans, cricketers or their fellow citizens but I love the spirit in this side. They all raced the length of the field, almost fought one another to shake Collingwood by the hand when his innings ended; and when Smith heard defeat had forced Vaughan to go he offered his own praise for a captain whose skills he rated. Now they can look forward to their next battle against the Aussies which England may not relish. They are hard as teak boards, never refuse a fight and are prepared to graft heavens knows how hard to achieve their ends.
I still wish they had an attacking batsman and a decent spinner but then I wish champagne came out of my kitchen tap every birthday and I have to accept it does not.
THE SCORESThird Test, Edgbaston, July 30-August 2. South Africa won by five wickets.
England — 1st innings: A. Strauss hit wkt. b Nel 20; A. Cook c Kallis b Nel 76; M. Vaughan c Boucher b Nel 0; K. Pietersen c Prince b Kallis 4; I. Bell c Boucher b Ntini 50; P. Collingwood c Smith b Kallis 4; A. Flintoff (not out) 36; T. Ambrose b Kallis 22; R. Sidebottom c Boucher b Ntini 2; J. Anderson (run out) 1; M. Panesar (run out) 1; Extras (b-1, lb-7, w-2, nb-5) 15. Total: 231.
Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-68, 3-74, 4-136, 5-158, 6-173, 7-212, 8-215, 9-230.
South Africa bowling: Morkel 15-2-50-0; Ntini 19-5-70-2; Nel 17-7-47-3; Kallis 15-5-31-3; Harris 11-1-25-0.
South Africa — 1st innings: N. McKenzie lbw b Flintoff 72; G. Smith c Strauss b Flintoff 7; P. Harris c Cook b Sidebottom 19; H. Amla c & b Anderson 9; J. Kallis b Flintoff 64; A. Prince c Ambrose b Sidebottom 39; A. De Villiers c Sidebottom b Flintoff 5; M. Boucher c Vaughan b Anderson 40; M. Morkel lbw b Anderson 18; A. Nel b Sidebottom 0; M. Ntini (not out) 0; Extras (lb-35, nb-6) 41. Total: 314.
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-94, 3-117, 4-135, 5-226, 6-238, 7-264, 8-293, 9-298.
England bowling: Sidebottom 25-9-81-3; Anderson 26.2-6-72-3; Flintoff 30-8-89-4; Collingwood 2-0-12-0; Panesar 7-0-25-0.
England — 2nd innings: A. Strauss c Kallis b Morkel 25; A. Cook c Boucher b Ntini 9; M. Vaughan c Amla b Nel 17; K. Pietersen c De Villiers b Harris 94; I. Bell c Boucher b Ntini 20; P. Collingwood c Boucher b Morkel 135; A. Flintoff c Amla b Harris 2; T. Ambrose b Morkel 19; R. Sidebottom c Amla b Morkel 22; J. Anderson b Kallis 1; M. Panesar (not out) 0; Extras (b-8, lb-2, w-6, nb-3) 19. Total: 363.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-39, 3-70, 4-104, 5-219, 6-221, 7-297, 8-362, 9-363.
South Africa bowling: Morkel 19.2-1-97-4; Nel 20-3-79-1; Ntini 18-4-58-2; Kallis 20-5-59-1; Harris 21-3-60-2.
South Africa — 2nd innings: G. Smith (not out) 154; N. McKenzie lbw b Flintoff 22; H. Amla lbw b Panesar 6; J. Kallis lbw b Flintoff 5; A. Prince c Ambrose b Anderson 2; A. De Villiers c Collingwood b Panesar 27; M. Boucher (not out) 45; Extras (b-9, lb-9, w-2, nb-2) 22. Total (for five wkts.) 283.
Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-78, 3-83, 4-93, 5-171.
England bowling: Sidebottom 10-1-26-0; Anderson 13-0-60-1; Panesar 33-3-91-2; Flintoff 20-5-72-2; Pietersen 4-0-16-0.
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