Vaughan sails into another 'Fredalo' fiasco

13 April 2012

Michael Vaughan laughed when he was described as the Special One' last month but there was again something of Jose Mourinho about the way he managed to dominate the build-up to today's third npower Test at Old Trafford.

No matter how Chelsea play, their manager always seems to hog the limelight. And, whether he meant to criticise Andrew Flintoff this week or not, Vaughan was again the centre of attention yesterday before a Test that should be all about English domination over West Indies.

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Catching the flak: Michael Vaughan takes a break from fielding hard questions

Vaughan combined contrition with defiance yesterday as he denied having blamed Flintoff for England's World Cup woes but accepted he has caused an almighty fuss his team could have done without.

"If I was pointing the finger of blame at anyone for the World Cup fiasco it would be Michael Vaughan," said the England captain in one of those third-person moments of which he has become fond.

"I didn't captain England well at the World Cup and I didn't manage the latenight drinking situation as well as I could. I said all that in this interview, too, but one word was added that I didn't use. That word changed the whole context of what I was saying."

The word to which Vaughan took exception was Fredalo'. Although he admitted his comments about Flintoff were otherwise reported accurately, Vaughan insisted he had talked about the "incident" rather than "Fredalo", which he said had been inserted to dramatically alter the effect of his comments.

Rather embarrassingly for the England captain, however, The Guardian last night released a recording of the interview, during which Vaughan used the word "Fredalo" twice.

Nevertheless, he claimed he had meant to apportion blame to all of the players involved in the episode in St Lucia — Jimmy Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Ian Bell, Paul Nixon and Jon Lewis were also disciplined — not just Flintoff.

Vaughan said: "I've never criticised individuals before and I won't do so as long as I'm England captain. I'm very sorry about all this and I can imagine that Freddie might be upset but I'm sure as soon as he hears my side of the story he'll be fine."

That "patching-up" session came yesterday when former Lancashire batsman Neil Fairbrother, who manages both Vaughan and Flintoff, whisked the pair off to lunch and a source close to them said that the England players were more upset with Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes, who called Vaughan's words "despicable" on Tuesday, than they were with each other.

Cumbes certainly fanned the flames and there is a suspicion that he jumped into the argument feet first without seeking out Vaughan's side. That said, the wider issue of the captain's relationship with the man who stood in for him during the Ashes remains a fascinating one.

In many ways Vaughan's comments ahead of the first Test, when he complained about not being involved in the Ashes decision-making, were more significant than the story of the drunken sailor and his pedalo.

Flintoff wanted to keep his skipper at arm's length in Australia when he was in charge and Vaughan's irritation at that is clearly still bubbling.

Talk of factions within the team is probably wide of the mark, but it was fascinating to listen to West Indies stand-in captain Daren Ganga yesterday when he talked of his team "being aware of problems in the England camp since the World Cup".

What Vaughan has definitely done is put himself under pressure again at a time when his century at Headingley had done much to dispel the growing belief that he had got a bit above his station.

He will walk out in front of a Lancashire crowd today who may well be affronted by this perceived slight on their local hero by a Yorkshire player, even though Vaughan might be keen to remind them he was, in fact, born in Salford.

At least he will have been gratified to see an Old Trafford wicket that looks full of pace and bounce and England are confident Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar will find it as much to their liking as last year's strip, on which they took 19 Pakistani wickets between them.

West Indies will surely unleash their quickest bowler Fidel Edwards and Ganga spoke with a quiet authority that suggests Ramnaresh Sarwan's team are in safe hands and that we are more likely to see the West Indies who batted with resolve at Lord's rather than the rabble of Headingley.

Vaughan used the words "blown out of all proportion" no fewer than six times yesterday but the only way in which his outburst can be truly consigned to history is with another authoritative display from England.

They should duly oblige today.

ENGLAND: Strauss, Cook, Vaughan (capt), Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell, Prior, Plunkett, Harmison, Sidebottom, Panesar.

WEST INDIES (from): Gayle, Ganga (capt), Smith, Chanderpaul, Samuels or Joseph, Morton, Bravo, Ramdin, Powell, Taylor, Collymore, Edwards.

Umpires: B Bowden (NZ) & A Dar (Pak). 3rd umpire: P Hartley (Eng).

TV: Sky Sports 1, 10.30am (11.0 start).

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