Wed, Jun 20, 2007 page20

• Vaughan resigns as one-day captain

  STILL TEST SKIPPER The Yorkshire batsman, who said he reached his decision some time ago, stepped down in the wake of a weak performance in the World Cup

  • AFP
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  Michael Vaughan resigned as England's one-day captain with immediate effect on Monday.

  But Vaughan, in a statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after close of play on the fourth day of the fourth Test against the West Indies, said he would continue as a one-day international cricketer.

  And the ECB also added he would remain England's Test captain.

  

  England batsman Michael Vaughan plays a shot on his way to reach 19 runs after the West Indies set a target of 287 in their first innings during the third day of the fourth cricket test at the Riverside, Chester-le-Street, England, on Sunday.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Vaughan's successor as one-day captain will be announced when the squad for the two forthcoming Twenty20 matches and three limited overs internationals against the West Indies is named on Friday.

  However, Vaughan indicated he might miss these matches while the new captain established "his own authority over the team."

  Vaughan, who has struggled to reproduce his Test form in one-day cricket, was England's captain at the recent World Cup in the Caribbean where they failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

  The 32-year-old Yorkshire batsman said: "I reached this decision some time ago. But due to intense speculation in the media about my future, I feel it is important to make my intentions clear now. Our priority is to build a one-day squad able to compete strongly at the next World Cup [in Asia in 2011] and I firmly believe that the interests of the team will be best served if I step down and allow another player to gain additional experience of captaincy in the one-day international arena."

  He added: "I am committed to continuing as England's Test captain for as long as I can be successful in the role."

  "It is not my intention to retire from one-day international cricket as a player. I do, however, fully appreciate that the new captain will need a period of time to establish his own authority over the team," he said.

  Vaughan has yet to score a century in his 86 one-day international appearances, averaging a meagre 27.15 compared to a Test mark of 43.44. He led England in 60 one-day internationals, winning 32 and losing 22.

  At the World Cup, Vaughan scored just 130 runs in England's first eight matches. He did make 79 in England's final, "dead" World Cup fixture against hosts West Indies in Barbados, where neither side had a chance of reaching the last four.

  He returned to Test cricket after 18 months out injured, mainly as a result of a longstanding knee problem, with a hundred on his Headingley home ground during England's innings win in May's second Test against the West Indies.

  Shivnarine Chanderpaul continued to defy the England attack, but the West Indies were still in danger of losing the fourth and final Test on the last day at Riverside yesterday.

  West Indies, at lunch, were 131 for four in their second innings -- a lead of just 18 runs -- with England still to bat again in a match where a minimum of 81 overs remained.

  Left-hander Chanderpaul, who batted for nearly 16 hours since last being dismissed, for 74 in the first Test at Lord's, was 32 not out and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo 19 not out.

  Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard, who now had innings figures of three for 28 in 11 overs, took the only wicket to fall in the session when he dismissed opener Chris Gayle under overcast skies assisting England's quicks.

  It now seemed as if the most West Indies, seeking a first win in 20 Tests, could hope for from this match was a draw.

  England, at 2-0 ahead, had already secured the series but, with rain foreceast for later on Tuesday, prospects for another win threatened to be as dependent on the weather as their ability to end the fifth-wicket partnership.

  West Indies resumed on 83 for three, still 30 runs behind, after light rain had delayed the start by half an hour.
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