Vaughan advises Yorkshire to protect England players

Michael Vaughan has issued a severe warning to his former club Yorkshire over the way they manage their England players in the squad.

England’s Ashes-winning captain in 2005 revealed his disappointment over Matthew Hoggard’s recent exit from the county.

The former England swing bowler now has to look for another county after Yorkshire claimed Hoggard had rejected a good contract offer from them during last season.

Hoggard then publicly stated his release was due to financial reasons and has recently held talks with Leicestershire.

Vaughan told BBC Radio Leeds: “The Hoggy situation is sad. He is a Yorkshire lad. The fans love him and he should still be playing for Yorkshire.

“Matthew will now have to finish his career at another county, which is a shame, but a lot of ex-England players seem to.  

“Yorkshire have to get used to managing their star players. They’ve not done it well in the past and that must change.”

Vaughan believes the situation is not a new one at Headingley and has been going on for at least a decade.

He added: “Over the last ten or fifteen years, or even further back, Yorkshire have not managed them brilliantly and that is something that has to change.” 

It would not be fair for us to comment on this before Yorkshire say their piece but I think a greater concern, which Vaughan has also pointed out, is the number of Kolpak players joining the English domestic game.

For England’s future it is vital young cricketers get the chance to play for their county and develop their game instead of Kolpak players coming in and providing counties with the chance of short-term success on the field.

It was announced last week the ECB had won a legal case over the rights to prevent masses of future Kolpak players joing the county circuit. This could be seen as good news and will hopefully encourage counties to  breed their younger players into the first-eleven sides.

On Michael Vaughan, with his recent comments and a new book out, it seems he is made for a career in the media instead of the coaching side of the game. Let’s just wait and see what the future holds for him. Can’t wait to read his new book!!!

Pakistan outclass coachless New Zealand to take series lead

Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal set up a thumbing ODI win against New Zealand in the series opening match at Abu Dhabi yesterday. 

Afridi’s 70 and Akmal’s quick-fire 67 guided Pakistan to a comanding 287 – 9 after the ‘home’ side won the toss and chose to bat.

Opening batsman Khalid Latif also played his part with a well crafted 62, which enabled the fireworks later in the innings.

New Zealand, playing their first match since the resignation of coach Andy Moles, never really looked like chasing their 288 target.

The loss of Brendan McCullum early on hit the Black Caps hard as wickets thereafter regularly fell and New Zealnd couldn’t get any partnerships together.

Aaron Redmond (52), skipper Daniel Vettori (38) and McCullum’s 21 were the only highlights in their innings as they crashed to 149 all out. Every other batsman failed to get into double-figures.

Umar Gul, Abdul Razzak, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ijmal all took two wickets each as Pakistan romped to victory by 138 runs.

New Zealand will hope to make a serious improvement in Friday’s second ODI. Pakistan just need one more victory to take the three match series.

The On-Drive’s Track of the Day

We are going a bit more serious today after yesterday’s ‘Snooker Loopy’ episode. Today I am going back to Oasis – one of my favourite bands. In April I gave you ‘Some Might Say’ and today I give you the brilliant record ‘Little By Little’. Hope you enjoy this one.

Great track. See you guys tomorrow. Take care.

This is Nigel Slater signing off.

Vaughan reveals disappointment over Trott in new book

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has accused batsman Jonathan Trott of celebrating with the South African players after their series clinching victory in England over a year ago.

In Vaughan’s new book, ‘Time to Declare’, he expresses his utter disappointment with the South African’s behaviour after England’s Test defeat to the Proteas at Edgbaston in the summer of 2008.

Vaughan writes: “It was a sad day for English cricket that on my last day against South Africa, I saw Jonathan Trott (pictured) celebrating with South Africa, when the week before he had been our 12th man at Headingley. 

“I was going into the press conference and I saw him patting them on the back. It hit home what English cricket has become.”

Trott made his full England debut this summer in the crucial deciding Ashes Test at The Oval and made a fantastic impression by scoring a second innings hundred to set up England’s famous win.

The Cape Town born batsman can play for England because he has British ancestors in his family.  

Vaughan, who currently is England’s most successful Test captain, did however state that Trott’s inclusion paid off brilliantly.

He writes: “The selection of Jonathan Trott after much fevered speculation proved an excellent decision. He immediately had that look about him of being comfortable at the highest level, and could prove to be a more stubborn version of Kevin Pietersen.”

Trott has told the Daily Mail that he remains totally loyal to the England cause.

He said: “My commitment to England is 100%. I’ve spent years working hard to be able to wear the Three Lions and in that time my allegiance has never wavered.”

In his book published earlier this week, Vaughan discusses his cricket life, from his early days at Yorkshire, to being the best batsman in the world, his Ashes glory in 2005 and his frustrations with injury towards the back end of his career.

The book, which I’m sure is an absolutely fantastic read, is published by Hodder and Stoughton and is available on hardback at Amazon for 11.99.    

Bangladesh steamroll Zimbabwe to level up series

Bangladesh have today thrashed Zimbabwe by seven wickets to level the series at 1 – 1.

Zimbabwe’s decision to bat first seriously backfired on them at Mirpur as they crashed to a disappointing 219 all out on a flat wicket.

Spinner Abdur Razzak (pictured) followed up his good performance in the opening ODI to take 5 – 29 form his 9.2 overs.

Zimbabwe crashed from 59 – 0 to 130 – 5, as the home side looked to nail down an advantage.

Once Tatenda Taibu (38) and Malcolm Waller (40) were dismissed it was always on the cards they would fold a total less than par on this good surface.

They fell for 219 and were probably 40 – 50 runs short of making it a competitive game.

Bangladesh in the end, made comfortable work of their target and eased home with a massive 20 overs to spare.

Captain Shakib Al Hasan’s century (105no) ensured the series was level going into Saturday’s third ODI again in Mirpur.

At one stage the home side looked as if they were struggling when they were on 59 – 3 with Elton Chigumbura taking two wickets but Bangladesh avoided a second consecutive to stay ver much in the series.

Abdur Razzak’s five wickets rewarded him with the man of the match award.

Manou to replace injured Paine in India

Australia’s wicket-keeping troubles keep on persisting after Tim Paine suffered a broken finger in yesterday’s win over India.

Paine’s injury has resulted in him being ruled out for the rest of the ODI series in India. Third choice keeper Graham Manou is to replace him and goes straight into the team for Saturday’s third ODI.

Manou, 30, last featured for Australia in the third Ashes Test this year at Edgbaston when first choice keeper Brad Haddin pulled out less than hour before the start due to a broken finger.

The South Australian will make his ODI debut in the famous green and gold of Australia and has expressed his delight in getting involved again with the team.

He told Cricinfo: “It’s straight into the cauldron of one of the toughest environments in world cricket. It’s going to be a fantastic challenge and hopefully I can learn from it and bring the experience back to the group.

“Fingers crossed this part of the tour goes well.”

It will certainly be interesting to see how Manou gets on in India. He impressed in that Edbaston test with both the bat and gloves and looks like he has the chance to impress and stake a claim to be number 1 keeper or more likely second choice. This is a great chance for Graham. Good luck lad

Can anyone tell me what happened to keeper batsman Luke Ronchi? I was really impressed with him when the Australian’s toured the West Indies about 18 months ago and he looked the real deal with the bat. He reminded me a lot of Adam Gilchrist but has not been on the radar for quite some time.

And Finally……The On-Drive’s Track of the Day

Today’s Track of the Day comes from a live performance from the Grammy Awards back in 2006. This is one of our quite recent tracks actually. I give to you guys the excellent song ‘One’ from U2 and Mary J Blige. Brilliant stuff.

Great performance. Jon me tomorrow guys for more cricket news. Not sure what I’ll have in store but you will just have to come on here and find out!! Take care guys.

This is Nigel Slater signing off.