THE LONG LONELY WALK...

The news has just broken that Michael Vaughan has stepped down as England`s cricket captain. Although I, for one, am very sorry to hear it, I can`t say I`m surprised.

Captaining any cricket team is not easy. Years ago, when I was just a slip of a lad of eighteen, I was seriously staggered to be appointed captain of the village cricket team. I was just about the youngest player and had no special talents and I felt a bit awkward captaining a side which had people much older and wiser than me. But I took it on and enjoyed it immensely not just for the game itself but also, more importantly, for the lessons it taught me about how to handle people and situations and how to represent the club to others.

At the highest level in the game, the captaincy must be a 24/7 job and I have long admired a succession of England captains who have taken on what must be an all consuming task but one which, in the end, gets to even the very best - Botham, Hussain, Atherton to name but a few. Of late, you could detect that things weren`t quite right with Michael Vaughan. His batting has been a bit wonky and one or two of his decisions have been `interesting,` such as bringing Kevin Pietersen on to bowl in yesterday`s defeat by South Africa, rather than Paul Collingwood. But I doubt it was yesterday`s result which persuaded Vaughan to relinquish the post. There are other factors, some personal, some cricketing and some outside his control.

I`m guessing, but I can`t believe Vaughan has been enamoured with the current structure and process of getting a team together to represent England on the field of play. It seems we have a national selector, Geoff Miller, who along with Peter Moores, the England coach, picks the team which is then presented to the captain to play under him. Recent examples have shown the folly of such a system along with the confusion which is caused by having one captain for the Test team and a different one for one-day internationals. No way to run a railroad.

So Vaughan has gone. Probably the best captain England have had since Mike Brearley and still one of the most elegant and talented batsmen in world cricket. I hope he regains his form and his place as a player in the England team, for there are few better sights than Michael Vaughan in full flow.

It`s a long, lonely job being captain of your country - just ask Kim Hughes - but an even longer, lonelier step to walk away from it. For something that`s supposed to be a game, cricket seems to have more than its fair share of melancholy and Vaughan looked that way today. But we know two things. First, we know that cricket is more than just a game; it`s an experience, almost a way of life and something of such value that it`s hard to let go. And second, of course, Michael Vaughan can take the long, lonely walk knowing that he leaves the captaincy with his enviable reputation intact and with the thanks of a cricket loving nation. Well played, Michael. Don`t leave it too long.