Who's the current England captain? It could be a quiz question, but the answer is still Michael Vaughan. It has been been throughout the temporary spells of Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss, but such has been Vaughan's list of injuries that he's hardly been seen on the field. He managed a handful of matches in Australia before limping home, but is now gearing up for his latest return on the biggest stage of them all - the World Cup. In an interview with Brian Viner at Lord's for The Independent on Sunday he talks about his battle for fitness, the doubts and his belief he can make his mark.
Around last August or September when the knee didn't seem to be progressing, I'd just been told that I was out of the Ashes series, and someone else told me that I might not play again, that was a real low moment. And a few weeks ago when this [latest injury to his left hamstring] happened, I admit I questioned whether it was all worth it. I thought maybe someone somewhere was trying to tell me to do something else.
In The Sunday Times, David Walsh meets another of England's senior figures, but one who has only just made his way into the team. At 36, Paul Nixon was a shock selection for the CB Series but his mixture of experience and verbals played their part in the tournament victory. But he's still pinching himself that next it's the World Cup.
England, of course, needed more from Nixon. Could he get under the skin of the Aussies: be the mosquito around their heads, always buzzing but never swatted? Once he got within talking distance of them, he was in his element. “I am not a sledger, I don’t do that. All I do is drip-feed negativity into a man’s brains. Whether you use physical stuff or technical stuff, you play with their minds.”
