The Hindu : Sport : Vaughan returns

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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Vaughan returns

Ted Corbett

LONDON: Michael Vaughan returns to lead the England Test side against the West Indies on his home ground at Headingley after an absence of 535 days since he last played in Lahore against Pakistan in December 2005.

He missed the whole of the tour of Australia and, after playing in the World Cup and with Yorkshire at the start of the season, broke his finger 10 days before the first Test playing against the Australian fast bowler Stuart Clark now with Hampshire.

There is still a doubt about Andrew Flintoff whose ankle injury kept him out of the first Test. He was tested on Tuesday by the England and Wales Cricket Board medical staff. It seems unlikely that any risk will be taken with Flintoff but he may be keener to get back into the side now that Vaughan is fit. It is known that he has the greatest respect for Vaughan's leadership.

Unhappily England will still be without Matthew Hoggard who injured an adductor muscle after bowling only 10 overs at Lord's this week-end which means that the power of Flintoff's fast bowling is needed all the more.

He will have at least two further trials of his ankle in the next 48 hours to see if his ankle can stand up to a full workload in a five-day Test. I understand he will not play as a batsman only but in case he is out of the side England have made a surprising move to add variety to their attack.

England has recalled James Anderson, who has not played in a home Test for nearly three years but surprisingly has added Ryan Sidebottom, once of Yorkshire now Nottinghamshire's most consistent bowler.

Sidebottom bowls fast left-arm over the wicket but he has played in only one Test back in 2001. He is now 29, but he still retains the trademark bunch of wild reddish hair that so annoys the conventional spectators who believe that all sportsmen should still have a short back and sides haircut.

He is an unorthodox man — as the nickname Jazz will suggest — but he comes from a conservative sports background. His father Arnold played as a centre half for Manchester United — not in one of its most successful spells it should be noted — but finished in the lower leagues and bowled fast medium for Yorkshire.

The squad: Michael Vaughan (captain), Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Matthew Prior, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom.

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