Michael Vaughan Announces Retirement From Professional Cricket
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has announced his retirement from professional cricket today, bringing to an end a superb 17 year career. The 34 year old made his county debut for Yorkshire in 1993, passing 1000 first-class runs during the following summer.
Vaughan made his Test debut in 1999, under Coach Duncan Fletcher in South Africa and quickly established himself on the world stage. In 2002, he became the highest scoring batsman in Test cricket for that calendar year and was voted PCA Player of the Year. In 2003, he was announced as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year and also took over the Test captaincy in the July. His success was unprecedented, as he led England to six consecutive Test series victories, including a first win in South Africa for 40 years, and culminating in a first win over Australia in 19 years, in 2005.
Vaughan stood down from captaincy in 2008, leaving a legacy as the most winning England captain of all time, with 26 victories in 51 Test matches. He leaves the game with nearly 6000 Test runs to his name at an average of 41, which included 18 Test match centuries.
Vaughan released a statement, saying.
"After a great deal of consideration, I've decided that now is the right time to retire from cricket. It has been an enormous privilege to have played for and captained my country and this is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make.
"Having played almost non-stop for sixteen seasons, I feel that the time is right for the focus to shift to the next generation. We have some fantastic talent coming through the English counties and, with the next Ashes series upon us, now is the time for the younger players to rise to the challenge of building on the success achieved in English cricket in the last few years.
"I'd like to record my sincere thanks to the England fans and the ECB and the members and supporters of Yorkshire County Cricket Club for their unstinting backing throughout my career as well as my wife Nicola and the rest of my family who have been equally supportive."
"I'm also extremely grateful to all of the players, managers, coaches, media and administrators I've worked with, who have all contributed to making my career so enjoyable and fulfilling.
"I'd also like to wish Andrew Strauss and the current England team success in this Ashes series. I know they have the drive, ambition and abilities to repeat the success from 2005. Winning that series was most definitely the highpoint of my career".
Since Vaughan's announcement, tributes from the world of cricket have poured in, in recognition of an illustrious career. Read on for our selection below.
Warwickshire Head Coach Ashley Giles
"Vaughany's been a great servant to cricket, a good friend of mine and great player for England and a great captain. He treated everyone as a individual and believed that guys should express themselves and not have the fear of failure and gave us all a bucket load of confidence. It was crucial that everyone who came into the side felt comfortable, almost loved, and that way you go out and play your best cricket. "
Somerset batsman Marcus Trescothick
"When Nasser Hussain finished the team needed to move forward and Michael was the right guy at the time. He's a leader of men who has the ability - behind the scenes as well - to keep people going. People see what he does on the field but they don't see the off-the-field Michael. He was brilliant at keeping you going to the next game, the next innings, or the next day. That's what he was great at. "
Former England coach Duncan Fletcher
"Vaughan was a classy batsman, but he became a marvellous captain and a good friend. English cricket can be very proud of him. The public saw one side only: a batsman who could cover-drive and pull like a dream, and a tactically astute leader who brought the best out of his players."
PCA Chief Executive Sean Morris
"Michael will be remembered as an inspirational cricketer, captain and role model for many players and fans. On behalf of the PCA members and Executive, we wish him all the very best in whichever career path he decides to pursue, and look forward to maintaining the close personal ties he has built with the association."
England all rounder Andrew Flintoff
"So far I have played my best cricket under him. He has helped me do that. He is unflappable. You would see mayhem going on all around you and you would see him stood there as if nothing was happening, poker-faced. He will probably go down as one of the greats of English cricket."
England batsman Paul Collingwood
"The contribution he has made over the last decade or so for English cricket has been phenomenal. To become the No.1 player in the world, he had the talent there. But the biggest thing was that he was a real team player, a fantastic player and a fantastic captain."
Former England captain Nasser Hussain
"It's my view that he became England's best post-war captain - certainly he was up there with the likes of Peter May and Mike Brearley. He commanded respect and got respect from every other opposition captain and player. I couldn't have wished for a better bloke to hand the captaincy over to. He continued that forward momentum with Fletcher and I'm sure Fletcher was the first one on the phone to him to thank him for all of the work he did. They were a good team."
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