Vaughan confirms retirement

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has officially announced his retirement from all forms of first-class cricket. The 34-year-old failed to force his way back into the international fold this summer and this, combined with some poor form for Yorkshire, played a major part in his decision.

Speaking to the English press about his retirement, Vaughan said that it has been an ‘enormous privilege’ to have played for and to have captained his county over the last few years. He then described the decision to retire as the ‘hardest’ he has ever had to make.

There is no doubt that Vaughan will be remembered fondly by England fans. He played 82 tests for his country, 51 of them as skipper and scored over 5,700 runs at an average of 41. During this time, he managed to notch 18 test centuries.

Vaughan played with a fluency that many admired and when he was on form, he was one of the greatest players to watch in world cricket. It is a shame that his form has dipped in recent months, but this takes nothing away from what he has achieved.

With his retirement from the game confirmed, it seems appropriate to take a look back at the most significant moments of Vaughan’s career.

-       Made his first-class debut in 1993, immediately catching the eye with his stroke play.
-       Made his senior England debut on the 1999-2000 tour to South Africa with a top score of 69.
-       Made his first test-match century in May 2001 against Pakistan at Old Trafford.
-       Helped Yorkshire win the County Championship in 2001 for the first time since 1968.
-       Achieved huge personal success on the 2002-2003 tour of Australia by scoring a massive 633 runs.
-       Named England captain in July 2003, succeeding Nasser Hussain in the middle of a drawn test series against South Africa.
-       Guided England to seven test wins out of seven against New Zealand and West Indies in the summer of 2004.
-       Led England to Ashes glory in the Summer of 2005 for the first time since 1987.
-       Struggled with injuries in the three years following the Ashes win.
-       Resigned from the England captaincy in July 2008 during an emotional press conference.
-       Attempted to win his place back in the England side, but failed to find consistent form.
-       Retired from all forms of cricket in June 2009.

In all fairness to Vaughan, he has had a very successful career. His achievements as captain of England were superb and he will rightly go down as the best skipper ever. He turned England into a team of winners.

Hopefully, we will see plenty of him in years to come though. Perhaps he could perform a coaching role at some stage? I guess we will have to wait and see.

For now, we will just have to reflect on Vaughan’s career and wish him all the best for the future.

Make sure you’re keeping a close eye on the 2009 Ashes odds so that you can make informed Ashes bets and, if you need to get in the betting mood, check out Betfair’s new fan v fan site.

Know the enemy: A look at the Australian Ashes squad

The battle commences on July 8 and the Australian’s have named a team with few, if any, surprises. Arguably, this is the weakest team that the Australians have sent over in the modern era but England’s performances over the last year suggests that this is likely to be a close contest. The Australian’s have lost, Langer, Hayden, Martyn, Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist to retirement from the 05 team. England Cricket takes a closer look at the latest Australian Ashes team.

A Duckworth-Lewis related rant

I was very frustrated by the manner of England’s defeat yesterday. They were knocked out of the World Twenty20 after losing to the West Indies by five wickets. It wasn’t a run of the mill defeat though as the Duckworth-Lewis system played its part.

The heavens opened after England made 161-6 in their 20 overs meaning that the West Indies were set a revised target of just 80 from now overs. To me, this figure seems far too small. With ten wickets in hand, all they needed to do was score at 9 per over for 9 overs.

By anyone’s standards, this is extremely achievable. Fair enough they lost five wickets along the way, but this was because they had licence to take some risks. They knew that they weren’t going to be bowled out within 9 overs, so as long as they kept up with the rate it would be fine.

Personally, I can’t see why the game couldn’t have carried on. The floodlights are there to be used. The game would have only gone on for an extra hour if the West Indies innings lasted 20 overs. Surely that would have been the fairest way to do things? Why did the game have to be cut short?

There is no doubt that the West Indies were given an advantage by the rain interval. In fact, it could be argued that this is what won them the game. Paul Collingwood admitted afterwards that his side would have been favourites had there been no rain delay.

To be fair though, England contributed to their own downfall as well. The batting line-up was far too light and this meant that they finished 20 runs short of what they should have posted. A score of 180 would have won them the game. Why was Dimi left out? Why has the big-hitting Graham Napier not even got a sniff?

You could also argue that Collingwood should have bowled first. England haven’t been great at setting a total in this tournament and with the rain almost inevitable, it might have been an idea to stick the West Indies in.

This is all done now though. England are out partly because of themselves, partly because of the rain, partly because of the Duckworth-Lewis system and partly because the West Indies were on song. Let’s move on and start to focus on the Ashes cricket action and getting in a few good Ashes bets.

By Thomas Rooney

England Player ratings

England were knocked out of the Twenty20 World cup following a 5 wicket loss in a rain affected super eights match with West Indies. The Windies were set a DL target of 80 in 9 overs, which England failed to defend. With England out, England Cricket takes a look at the individaul performances of the players.

ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2009

June 5 – 21
Full Schedule
Live Coverage: Sky Sports 1 (HD1)
Live Streaming: iraqgoals, cricket live streaming
Highlights: BBC Two at 11:00, BBC iplayer

Live Score

Group A: India, Bangladesh, Ireland
Group B: England, Pakistan, Netherlands
Group C: Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies
Group D: South Africa, New Zealand, Scotland

Group E: South Africa, England, India, West Indies
Group F: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealnd, Ireland

Ashes 2009 War of Words Warms Up

With Ashes 2009 drawing ever closer, the mind games are well under way. One of the favored tactics of the Australian cricket side is to conduct a war of words via the media. They love to get the media to do their dirty work for them and the Ashes is no exception. Past masters of this were Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. As long as it is done in the spirit of Ashes cricket no harm is done.

Symonds justifies Ashes non selection

In one crazy moment Andrew Symonds illustrated why he has been omitted for the Australian Ashes squad. Australia announced that the all-rounder has been sent home from their Twenty20 squad following an “alcohol related incident”. The loss of the powerful all rounder is a huge loss for Australia for the tournament.

ICC Twenty20 World Cup Schedule

Twenty20 World cup preview: Group D

Twenty20 World cup preview: Group C