Ponting and Vaughan renew captaincy rivalry by AFP

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 7th April 2007

 

Ricky Ponting and Michael Vaughan may both be captains of their countries and top order batsmen but their approaches to leadership differ greatly.

 

These contrasting styles will be on show when Ponting's Australia and Vaughan's England meet in Sunday's World Cup Super Eights clash here at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium - a match where defeat would leave England's semi-final Cup hopes hanging by a thread.

 

Ponting embodies the longstanding Australian approach to captaincy. This says you should first pick your best 11 players and then select one of them to lead the team.

 

In England the tradition, partly for reasons of class stretching back to the divide between 'Gentlemen' (amateurs) and 'Players' (professionals), has been to set great store by leadership qualities in themselves and the captain usually chosen ahead of his 10 teammates.

 

When Ponting succeeded Steve Waugh as Australia captain his predecessor told him the best thing he could do for the side was to keep scoring runs.

 

Ponting, one of the world's leading batsmen, appears to have taken that message very much to heart.

 

In Australia's 125-run victory over India in the climax of the 2003 World Cup in Johannesburg he scored a majestic 140 - the highest individual score in any World Cup final.

 

And at this tournament, the 32-year-old's appetite for runs shows no signs of lessening. In five matches he has scored 262 runs at an average of 65.

 

That sits well with a one-day international career record of more than 10,000 runs at an average in excess of 42 with 23 hundreds.

 

By contrast, Vaughan has a poor limited overs international record for a top-order batsman, especially one so highly regarded as a Test player.

 

In 82 games at this level Vaughan, also 32, has yet to score a century and averages a modest 26.82.

 

This World Cup has yet to see an improvement - five innings have yielded a mere 78 runs.

 

Yet for all the talk of England's top three failings and a need to reshuffle the order, the notion that Vaughan might effectively drop himself, as Mike Denness did during England's losing Ashes tour of Australia in 1974/75, remains outlandish.

 

And that's not simply because of his handy off-spin.

 

While Ponting took over the best team in the world - it was often said you didn't need to be much of a captain to lead the likes of Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath - Vaughan inherited an England side still uncertain of its ability to challenge the best in the world.

 

Vaughan's leadership skills were apparent during England's 2-1 2005 Ashes series win, where he was widely thought to have 'out-captained' Ponting.

 

And that helped explain why, having missed most of England side's recent one-day CB series triumph against Australia through injury he regained the reins from Andrew Flintoff with barely a word of protest.

 

The England players undeniably respond well to his calm authority, while the way in which Vaughan marshalled his bowling resources during Wednesday's nailbiting two-run defeat by Sri Lanka could hardly be faulted.

 

And with Flintoff, Vaughan's natural successor, having been stripped of the vice-captaincy for staying out late drinking following England's opening group match defeat against New Zealand, the Yorkshire batsman's position as skipper - something he considers makes him almost as much an 'all-rounder' as his former deputy - appears secure.

 

But while Ponting's captaincy has become increasingly astute, Vaughan's one-day batting form remains in the doldrums.

 

On Sunday, more than ever, England could do with their captain leading from the front in a one-dayer.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)