D
Deleted member 11215
Guest
Captain's future under debate
Vaughan faces tough call - Fletcher
Cricinfo staff & AFP
April 16, 2006
/inline/content/image/237322.jpg?alt=1
Duncan Fletcher knows how important Michael Vaughan is to England's Test team ? Getty Images
Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has said Michael Vaughan faces a tricky decision over whether to quit one-day internationals in order to extend his Test match career. Vaughan return from the tour of India to undergo knee surgery and is still recovering, with no return date yet pencilled in.
He has expressed doubts over whether his body can cope with the physical demands of playing both forms of the game at the highest level.
"He could come back and be fine," Fletcher told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek programme as England prepared to fly home from India. "I last spoke to him about a week ago and he seemed pretty upbeat at the time.
"But it seems like it is two steps forwards and then one step back from what I hear. It is a very difficult decision to make and only Michael can make that. That decision has to come from Michael and depends on the advice he gets from the medical people
"At the end of the day, he is playing cricket - is it [the knee problem] because he is running between the wickets too much? I do not know. If you run two runs tomorrow and you are going to damage your knee, then you pack up. If someone cannot really give you that answer, it is very difficult to make the decision."
England also have injury concerns over Steve Harmison, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones ahead of the first Test of the home season, against Sri Lanka at Lord's on May 11. Giles is facing further surgery on his knee while Harmison, like Vaughan, is extremely unlikely to make the start of the series. The news on Jones is more promising as he is set to play for Glamorgan in the early part of the summer.
However, one thing England's spate of injuries has done is to open the door to a crop of youngsters of who many, such as Alastair Cook and Monty Panesar, have not been out of their depth at Test level. Looking back of the tour of India, Fletcher believes that is major positive to emerge.
"It was a trip of two parts," he said, "In the Test matches we were short of a few players and it was an outstanding performance to draw 1-1 with India in a three-match series. The guys played some very good cricket.
However, he admits there is more work needed with the one-day team. "In the one-dayers, unfortunately we missed that experience tremendously with five players missing and that made it a very difficult tour.
"We are a little bit concerned that if those [injured and missing] players do not make it back into the England side, then we have to get young players into those slots and give them as much experience as possible.
"And there is not a long way to go to the World Cup [in the Caribbean in 2007]. There are some encouraging signs, but at the end of the day, we need experience when we go into a major competition."
? Cricinfo
Vaughan faces tough call - Fletcher
Cricinfo staff & AFP
April 16, 2006
/inline/content/image/237322.jpg?alt=1
Duncan Fletcher knows how important Michael Vaughan is to England's Test team ? Getty Images
Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has said Michael Vaughan faces a tricky decision over whether to quit one-day internationals in order to extend his Test match career. Vaughan return from the tour of India to undergo knee surgery and is still recovering, with no return date yet pencilled in.
He has expressed doubts over whether his body can cope with the physical demands of playing both forms of the game at the highest level.
"He could come back and be fine," Fletcher told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek programme as England prepared to fly home from India. "I last spoke to him about a week ago and he seemed pretty upbeat at the time.
"But it seems like it is two steps forwards and then one step back from what I hear. It is a very difficult decision to make and only Michael can make that. That decision has to come from Michael and depends on the advice he gets from the medical people
"At the end of the day, he is playing cricket - is it [the knee problem] because he is running between the wickets too much? I do not know. If you run two runs tomorrow and you are going to damage your knee, then you pack up. If someone cannot really give you that answer, it is very difficult to make the decision."
England also have injury concerns over Steve Harmison, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones ahead of the first Test of the home season, against Sri Lanka at Lord's on May 11. Giles is facing further surgery on his knee while Harmison, like Vaughan, is extremely unlikely to make the start of the series. The news on Jones is more promising as he is set to play for Glamorgan in the early part of the summer.
However, one thing England's spate of injuries has done is to open the door to a crop of youngsters of who many, such as Alastair Cook and Monty Panesar, have not been out of their depth at Test level. Looking back of the tour of India, Fletcher believes that is major positive to emerge.
"It was a trip of two parts," he said, "In the Test matches we were short of a few players and it was an outstanding performance to draw 1-1 with India in a three-match series. The guys played some very good cricket.
However, he admits there is more work needed with the one-day team. "In the one-dayers, unfortunately we missed that experience tremendously with five players missing and that made it a very difficult tour.
"We are a little bit concerned that if those [injured and missing] players do not make it back into the England side, then we have to get young players into those slots and give them as much experience as possible.
"And there is not a long way to go to the World Cup [in the Caribbean in 2007]. There are some encouraging signs, but at the end of the day, we need experience when we go into a major competition."
? Cricinfo
