Sunday, January 07, 2007

32 y o with 90 y o knees dismissed last week by 74 y o, now appointed England captain

Andrew Miller in Cricinfo has rather irreverently pointed out these facts (well two facts and one opinion) about Michael Vaughan, who has just been restored to the England captaincy for the second , minor part of the tour.

To be fair, Miller also acknowledges Vaughan's "ramrod straight back and willingness to engage" at the media conference when his not unexpected appointment was announced. His comeback has been quite low key and, it must be said, not notable for large scores. I also wonder how complete his recovery from injury has been.

ODIs by their very nature can narrow the gap between teams, but I'd be surprised if England can regroup sufficiently from their physical and psychological battering in the Tests to overcome Australia. To do so Flintoff and several others will need to lift their game several notches while several Australians (I have no idea who) would need to fall away badly. Will NZ be tougher opposition, I wonder?

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