Friday 26 December 2008

Michael Vaughan, stop all the clocks.

So if the selectorial rumour is true, Michael Vaughan will issue his next dispatches for the Telegraph from the frontline itself. It's hard to think of a more English selection: it's a choice that reveals as much about the current national character as it does the state of the cricket team.

England has always loved the underdog. We're a sucker for a comeback. And of late we are in thrall to nostalgia, that most unreliable of notions. The Vaughan of 2001 and 2002 shimmers in the psyche, the most beautiful and classical bat since Gower, a man whose cover drive was a straight line through time. It's a dangerously seductive memory. 

That Vaughan no longer exists, just as that England no longer exists, except in the mind. The Vaughan that exists at the moment is a man whose knee was ravaged by surgery and his will by the captaincy, a man who made 363 runs at 24.20 in 2008, a man who, at the end of last season, couldn't hit the ball off the square in county cricket. 

He's being chosen on memory and hope, the hope that he will again be the batsman he was before the captaincy. Old boxers have the same hope, their honed bodies a mirage, their minds still strong, their punch that ineffable fraction too slow.

16 comments:

Damith S. said...

Picking MV will be a step backwards as you say.

However, I wonder if a comeback is off the cards all together. Is there no hope for him to regain his form in the county set up ?

I dont see the point in picking him now. But with more work in the backyard maybe he can come good again ?

The Old Batsman said...

I think he could, but it's a timing thing. Pietersen wants him in and I see why - he looks around the dressing room and sees diffident characters like Bell, Harmi, Panesar, Anderson etc, and he wants some mental steel. But if they leave it until the county season, then he'll have just a few games before the WI Tests and then the Ashes, and they'll be taking a chance on him getting championship runs,which is something he's never really done. He's a bit like Gower in that respect.
That said, if he really could bat as his did five years ago...

Miss Field said...

I've written half a post on this, you're right it's not a step forward.

I love your writing, btw, it's very lyrical, it's great.

The Old Batsman said...

Cheers - at least they've spared him the ignimony of the Lions tour. He can keep hitting them well in the nets instead.

For some reason I hadn't seen your blog until today - have added to my roll!

Miss Field said...

Likewise. Do you roll with the Facebook entourage as well? (Don't you love my lingo? I am so hip.)

The Old Batsman said...

I don't, I'm afraid. I can barely work this thing, I'm ashamed to say.

Miss Field said...

I think you're doing well for a 160-year-old. Where in England are you?

The Old Batsman said...

Arf. Nice one! I'm in leafy Hampshire, about 30 miles outside London. I lived in Brissie for three years too, so I love you all and your fair land, despite being there for several England humiliations, including Nasser putting Australia in at the Gabba. Happy days.

Miss Field said...

Oooh lucky you! haha. what brought you to Australia? and Brisvegas? Poor thing.

The Old Batsman said...

I always wanted to go, and I heard the Queensland wickets were good batting tracks.... And they were. Didn't want to overstay my welcome in the bright lights of BrisVegas, so I came back. I like the way you do things, though. Never made it to Perth, but I hope to, one day.

Miss Field said...

You are actually a batsman? Anyone who goes to Queensland because of batting tracks must be a pretty keen player.

The Old Batsman said...

Slight exaggeration. Although I was keen to play there, I was employed by australia's favourite american newspaper baron, r. murdoch and co. And I have two daughters who are half-Australian, although they have been made to swear - with their hands on WISDEN no less - that they support England. You have to be firm about these things.

Miss Field said...

Haha I'm all for allegiance to the country you live in, so good on you.

Which is why English people who live here permanently, love it, and still swear allegiance to mother England are about my most loathed thing. They come out of the woodwork during the cricket season.

I have more respect for the Barmy Army, and that's really saying something.

So you're a journo?

The Old Batsman said...

I think I just ballsed up this comment function... testing...

Miss Field said...

Aha! I knew your writing style had to be pro.

I wish I was a cricket correspondent. I was hoping you were so you could help me find a similar job haha. I worked as a journalist for a while, cats up trees stuff, but in a media job for now.

What you said about papers, is that specifically sports related or newspapers in general?

Your comments are coming up, btw.

I tried to sleep but Australia's impending doom won't let me.

The Old Batsman said...

God knows what I did there. Seems to be okay now.

Loss-related insomnia - an almost unknown condition in England. We get it before victories, which is why we're all so well rested. Pray for an old-style Saffer choke, which would be amusing, but I don't see it coming.

I think it's the nature of the beast as far as newspapers go. They all have their agendas and priorities. As a small example, I've blogged on the total lack of coverage here of the decline of Pakistan cricket. It might be the writers not bothering, but it's more likely the editors going 'no, we don't want the story'.

Then if you have a column, as so many of the lovely pros and ex-pros do, you're tied into say 700 words on the subject the desk wants, whether or not that subject demands 700 words - it might be worth 1000 it might be worth 300. That's the joy of a blog really, everything at its natural length.

Anyway, I'm ranting. I don't mean to. They write some good stuff too. They just seem to lack the edge and originality that the best blogs have.