Vaughan's England Blueprint

Under the sub-headline, "Mission: win the Ashes in Australia", Michael Vaughan offers his England blueprint for success in an interview with Scyld Berry in today's Sunday Telegraph.

He has interesting views regarding the make-up of the team, championing a three, four, five of KP - "because your best player should bat there" - Bell and Trott. He wants England to stick with Alastair Cook, introduce Rashid at number eight and take Bopara to South Africa. When pressed on bowling names he lists Broad, Anderson, Onions, Harmison and Plunkett as potential dangermen for the winter tour, and Chris Woakes and Steve Finn as ones for the future.

Sound as these comments are, Flower, Strauss and the selectors have given us plenty of reason to trust their current thinking regarding selection policy. One day, Vaughan may well find himself part of that process, but for now, this interview represents no more than the informed view of an interested bystander. Where one wishes Vaughan had a more hands-on role, is with regard to his comments relating to the structure of the English game.

Michael Vaughan is a universally liked and respected figure. He was an England weapon as a batsman and captain, and, despite recent retirement, could still be now - if only the ECB could find some sort of consultancy role for him. Even reading his newspaper column would be a start.

Vaughan is acutely aware of the fixture congestion faced by international cricketers today, and laments the lack of resting opportunities: "The players are going to get niggles in the next few weeks [during the upcoming T20I and ODI series' against Australia] and we wont go to the Champions Trophy with our best team in the best shape. It will be another tournament where we don't give ourselves the best chance of winning."

Vaughan understands the needs and necessities of both the county and international games. He excercised logic and diplomacy on the pitch, and could bring the same to an administrative role. He knows only too well that Ashes success can be wasted as a platform on which to build, and is perfectly placed to help avoid mistakes being made this time around.

Berry goes on to quote the Schofield Report, commissioned two years ago by the ECB. In the light of the recent decision to ditch 50-over domestic cricket, it makes damning reading: "The First Class Counties' One Day programme should mirror, wherever possible, the current ICC competition rules, regulations and formats. A reduction in the amount of cricket played at domestic First Class level county championship games played is essential in order to alleviate fixture congestion and allow for better preparation of the players. The domestic programme must aspire to quality and not simply to quantity and the 40-over discipline may be deemed surplus to proper requirement."

Vaughan's reaction? "It's just greed."

Denly Targets Opening Berth

Having made a promising start to his international career on Thursday by top-scoring against Ireland, Joe Denly has been enjoying some positive press attention. His score of 67 enabled England to post a just about competitive 203, though rain reduced the Ireland chase to 116 from 20 overs. They fell three runs short, despite the match again highlighting D+L's inability to manufacture a fair reduced target in heavily rain-affected games - something England discovered against the West Indies in the World T20.

The Telegraph described England as "underwhelming", which they were, but such games against the Associate Nations are essentially no win (defeat leading to heavy criticism, victory seen as no more than expected). After posting a sub-par score (only two batsmen achieved strike-rates of above 100), England did well to contain the Irish batsmen, who at one point needed just 57 from 12 overs - but not much can be read into most aspects of the performance. After all, Owais Shah claimed three wickets in as many overs with his part-time offbreaks.

However, Denly was able to make an impression, rising above the mediocrity to play an innings described by The Telegraph as "probably England's best performance by a new boy since Marcus Trescothick announced his arrival against Zimbabwe nearly a decade ago."

Nick Hoult's report went into further detail, and included another flattering comparison: "Only one England player truly coped. Joe Denly provided encouragement for the future with an innings of patient accumulation worth 67 off 111 balls. Tall and an elegant driver of the ball, there is a passing resemblance to Michael Vaughan and Denly made a strong case for keeping his place when Andrew Strauss returns for the one-day series against Australia."

No doubt mindful of Alastair Cook's quiet Ashes series, this successful first taste of international action has prompted Denly to target a place in the Test team.

Moving On: Lessons From 2005

Having spent the last few months trying to replicate the summer of 2005 on and off the pitch, we now want things to head in a very different direction. And if the immediate post-victory signs are anything to go by, they will.

Sunday's scenes from the Oval may have been comparable with four years ago, but the after-party and player and press talk have been anything but. The 2005 Ashes was one of the greatest series ever played; an excellent England team peaked to beat an almighty Australian one. In a way, it was too good. The fans were left wondering if they'd ever witness cricket of such excitement and quality again; the players were left wondering if they'd ever play so well again.

Of course, as a team, and for many, as individuals, they didn't. The class of 2005 partied hard - and in hindsight thank goodness they did revel in their most glorious moment - before failing to trump it, or even adequately build on it - winning only one of their next four series before the chastening experience that was the Ashes tour 06-07.

This year is different. There has been considerably less partying, the opposition were not the greatest side in the world, and the gulf between the two sides was small. No England players, except Andrew Strauss, will be left wondering if they can better themselves, or worrying that they've peaked.

Strauss surely has; Ashes winning captain, series leading run-scorer and Man of the Series. It doesn't get any better. But he will be excited about his team improving to an extent where they don't rely on him as much as they did this series.

The immediate challenge for the Test side, is South Africa this winter. This is key. Not only does it provide an opportunity to build on Ashes success by targeting a series win against probably the best side in the world, but it represents their biggest challenge between now and the next Ashes, with Bangladesh (twice) and Pakistan being England's only other Test opposition in that time.

Michael Vaughan knows what lies ahead better than anyone, having been in Strauss's position four years ago. In Tuesday's Telegraph he wrote, "When we win, we have to focus on winning again. When we score a hundred, the next step must be to score another hundred. Never relax and revel in the glory of winning. Whatever [the players] did between Headingley and the Oval was perfect: we must adopt that attitude every week."

There was a rueful undercurrent to Vaughan's piece - he knows all that now, but was unable to implement it then. This Ashes win was excellent and must be used as a starting point on which to base Vaughan's vision. Crucially, Flower and Strauss are better placed to make that happen than Fletcher and Vaughan were four years ago.

Maybe 2005's greatest legacy will turn out to be a revised and improved approach to the all-important what happened next phase.

Ashes Victory: Press Reaction

The reaction of Monday's Press to England's epic series win:

The Times - Headline: "England's moment of triumph"

Mike Atherton focussed on the England captain, saying, "Strauss had taken on the England captaincy after a period of turmoil under Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores and, now, only eight months later, was enjoying what he will surely look back upon as his proudest moment as a cricketer: winning the Ashes as a player is one thing; winning them as captain, quite another. The Ashes is the biggest Test of an England cricketer, captaining in the Ashes the biggest test of character and temperament of them all. And what a job he has done."

Simon Barnes captured the fans' mood in typically lyrical fashion, describing Flintoff's run-out of Ponting thus: "First Ponting hesitated at the non-strikers end before setting out: Andrew Flintoff - a muted figure for most of this final Test - gathered the ball, swung the mighty shoulders and brought off a direct hit. Ah, that Freddie should live to see such a day, emulating no lesser cricketer than the great Gary Pratt."

Gideon Haigh focussed on how the defeat will affect Ponting's captaincy, recalling a famous quote by Kim Hughes after losing the 1981 Ashes: "'Reckon me Mum and Dad'll still talk to me. And me wife. But who else?'" Haigh concluded that "the reality is that the captaincy is his for as long as Ponting deigns it. For all his merits, Michael Clarke cannot captain Australia from No 5; no other batsman is remotely equipped to succeed Ponting at No 3. The difference between Kim Hughes and Ponting, moreover, is that the cap on Hughes never quite fitted, where the cap on Ponting's head is faded, battered, very proudly sported and universally respected."

Shane Warne congratulated England and lamented Australia's decision to omit a front-line spinner. On Stuart Broad he said, "He's really grown up over the past week. The good thing was the way he concentrated on line and length, which is what you want from that third-seamer role." He also singled out Trott for praise, noting his admirable ability to handle pressure.

The Guardian - "England back in paradise"

Vic Marks observed a changing of the guard as Flintoff departed the Test arena. "His was such a dignified exit, avoiding all the traps that were highlighted when he announced his retirement before the Lord's Test. Yesterday was more about the Ashes regained than Flintoff retired. He looked on while those younger and fitter than him did the job. He was content in that role. But he had to intervene once, just the once to leave us a reminder."

Paul Hayward suggested that "only in Ashes cricket, probably, could a team lose by an innings and 80 runs in Leeds and then recover to dominate a Test which Australia needed only to draw." He also noted that, impressively, England "won this series with their finest all-rounder on one leg and their best batsman (Kevin Pietersen) on no legs at all."

The Telegraph - "Ashes Wonderland"

Derek Pringle's match report sat below a sub-headline reading, "Strauss and Flower can move forward with confidence after distant wish become reality." He decided, "On balance, England deserved their 2-1 win. Their captain, Andrew Strauss, top-scored in the series and while they may have trailed Australia in the leading wicket takers, they possessed the stronger bowling attack and in Test cricket that prevails more often than having the stronger batting line-up."

Simon Hughes agreed that England's bowlers were the "decisive factor". He wrote, "Twice England took twenty wickets in a match. Australia achieved [this] only once, at Headingley. They managed only tow five-wicket hauls in the series, England had four. Wickets work better when they come in clusters."

In today's Telegraph, Michael Vaughan warned that England must "stay focussed and ensure the winning habit remains for the long term". He expanded by saying, "It will be Flower's job, with help from Strauss, to keep the guys focused and fresh. Before he became team director, Flower was never really able to fully express himself as coach. But it is clear from speaking to all players that they rate him highly. He is very 'chilled': he knows the direction he wants to take the team and is guiding them in a professional manner."

The Mirror - "Arise Sir Freddie"

Sir Ian Botham wrote an upbeat piece predicting "the dawn of a great new era for England". He said, "The result is enormous for English cricket and I really feel it can be the start of something special and not the end like 2005 turned out to be." He ended with the following praise for Flintoff: "For what you've done, for the man you are and for the friend you've been and will continue to be - thank you, Fred."

The Philosophical Approach

That's what I'm adopting after another horror show for England.

Bad days and bad Test matches are nothing new, but a match containing so few crumbs of comfort is rare, even for England. In fact, Stuart Broad's figures of 6-91 are the sole positive aspect of the past two days play. But, Test cricket is prone to over-reaction, and just like many of us got carried away after Lord's - reading too much in to one fine win - it would be easy to do so here. After all, six days ago we woke up with a genuine belief that one more good day from England would see the Ashes home at Edgbaston.

Most people are forgetting two important things:

• There is a decent sized break between Headingley and the Oval - even bigger given the quick nature of our capitulation here. Test cricket is a wrestle for momentum, and the longer England have to regroup, the more chance they have of negating Australia's current advantage.
• If England win the next Test, they win the Ashes. Australia have been brilliant here, but in Tests two and three they showed themselves capable of ordinary cricket. England wont bat and bowl that badly again.

England chose the most unforgiving of Test grounds on which to bat and bowl abysmally during the same match. Add an excellent Australian display to the mix, and you have a recipe for the sort of disaster we have witnessed here.

But I grew up during the 90s, so to watch a young and largely inexperienced England team approach the final Ashes Test knowing a win will be enough, is the sort of scenario I used to dream of. The 2005 series skewed our outlook and expectations a bit - it was the pinnacle of Vaughan and Fletcher's England, but this is Strauss and Flower's. Sure the Aussies are rebuilding, but so are we. Winning the next Test would be a great start.

Michael Vaughan Retires From Cricket

Today Michael Vaughan took himself out of the Ashes 2009 running completely by retiring from all forms of cricket, thus ending a potentially summer-long debate about an England recall.

He spoke movingly and revealingly about how he did all he could to get back in the frame, and how his efforts eventually convinced him it was time to call it a day. In many ways it is a selfless decision - he was certainly on the selector's radar, with an outside chance of playing this summer - but he's decided to allow the the next generation the chance to do what he did: gain the respect of the Australians by excelling against them.

Unsurprisingly, the tributes have been coming in thick and fast, with Paul Collingwood describing him as "the ultimate captain". No-one would argue with that.

The Michael Vaughan legacy: classiest batsman of his generation, most successful England captain of all-time.