Kids. They grow up so quickly these days. One day, you’re holding their hands from mid-off as they toddle into bowl. The next, they’ve dyed their hair red and are schmoozing from one lad’s mag to the next, talking girls and PlayStations, with hardly a backward glance to the crotchety old patriarch who made them the men they are today.
This was Nasser Hussain’s dilemma as he was reintroduced to his boys after seven weeks on the sidelines during the NatWest Series. And true to form, his assessment was instinctive and unequivocal. His time had passed. His cajoling, backside-kicking style was out of tune with the spirit of the age. It was time for Michael Vaughan to come to the fore.
Hussain, it transpires, broke the news to Vaughan over a bacon sandwich on Monday morning. Whether the sandwich was subsequently dropped in astonishment, we do not know. But, in his inaugural press conference at Lord’s, Vaughan was still wearing the look of a man caught in the midst of a whirlwind. He was lucid and authoritative, as he talked of his desire for a focused but relaxed team, but he couldn’t deny that the captaincy had arrived “sooner than he expected”.
“I don’t think Nasser landed me in it at all,” Vaughan insisted. “I feel ready for the job. I feel really excited and I am looking forward to it. I know people will say things, but Nasser has had four years at the top and I am very pleased he has left me with a young and talented team. He turned up this morning with a huge weight taken off his shoulders, and I told him to go out and enjoy his cricket. He is a huge player for England and I expect him to continue in that vein.”
Given his supreme self-motivation, it would surprise no-one if Hussain marks his return to the ranks with a century, just as Michael Atherton did against South Africa at Edgbaston back in 1998. But, as Vaughan admitted, this week has been a tale of three captains, not two. England’s main task at Lord’s will be to halt Graeme Smith, whose record-breaking scores of 277 and 85 dispelled all doubts that he lacked the authority to succeed in such a high-profile series.
“I definitely think England underestimated us, and wrongly so,” said Smith. "We had them under pressure all the time and that’s a great feeling. While they’re trying to sort out where they went wrong, we are going forward with a lot of positives to take into the rest of the series. “Maybe Nasser was feeling the pressure a bit and just wants to play a bit now,” added Smith. “It definitely puts a bit of pressure on Vaughan again. Maybe it will weigh on his shoulders, who knows? But it could be a breakthrough for us.”
But Smith, wary of making Hussain’s mistake and proclaiming that England were “there for the taking”, admitted that they would come out fighting at Lord’s. And, given that Jacques Kallis will once again be missing from South Africa’s team, he has enough selection headaches of his own. Worcestershire’s overseas player, Andrew Hall, has been drafted back into the squad, and is likely to take his place as a bowling allrounder ahead of the ineffective Charl Willoughby. His belligerent batting will strengthen the tail and may enable Paul Adams to take over from Robin Peterson, whose left-arm spin was the weakest link in South Africa’s attack.
England, for their part, hope to be unchanged – personnel-wise at least. Sussex’s James Kirtley is on standby in the bowling department, but seems set to miss out for the fourth Test running, while Marcus Trescothick and Alec Stewart are likely to play despite the injuries they picked up at Edgbaston. Vaughan, who wants 11 captains in his team, would probably have them wheeled out in bath-chairs rather than have them miss this vital match.
