Michael Vaughan was appointed England captain for one-day cricket internationals at the start of the 2003 season. He was appointed England Test captain on 28th July 2003 following Nasser Hussain's resignation at the end of the Edgbaston Test against South Africa.
Michael Vaughan was the number one batsman in the world - according to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers rankings published on 13th April 2003.
At that time his batting average was 50.93. Only four other English batsmen in the history of Test cricket have averages above that: Herbert Sutcliffe with 60.73, Ken Barrington with 58.67, Wally Hammond with 58.45 and Len Hutton with 56.67. Sutcliffe scored 16 centuries, Hammond 22, Barrington 20 and Hutton 19.
Michael Vaughan stepped down as England Test captain on 3rd August 2008 after having lost two of the three matches played in the series against South Africa. He had previously resigned as England one-day captain.
2001
England v Pakistan - Second Test, Manchester - 120
Michael Vaughan scored his first Test century against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 2001.
2002
England v Sri Lanka - First Test, Lord's - 115
Vaughan entered the Test match summer looking to cement his place at the top of the England line-up after a disappointing winter, in which he managed just one half-century. His response was to score 64 in the first innings and then 115 as England followed on to bat out a drawn first Test.
England v India - First Test, Lord's - 100
Having played a match-winning innings against Sri Lanka in the final Test and averaged 71.25 in the three-match series, Michael Vaughan returned to Lord's full of confidence. He made a first-innings duck but scored his second Test century of the summer in the second innings.
England v India - Second Test, Nottingham - 197
Michael Vaughan took his scintillating form on to Trent Bridge where he played the innings of his career so far - a magnificent 197 which inspired England's mammoth total of 617. He struck 23 boundaries in his 258-ball innings and received a hero's ovation after he was caught behind looking to reach his double century.
England v India - Fourth Test, The Oval - 195
Vaughan again just missed out on a double century. After a circumspect start, he rediscovered his timing to put England apparently in charge of a match which was to end in rain-induced anti-climax.
Australia v England - Second Test, Adelaide - 177
Michael Vaughan scored another big hundred as England reached 295 for four on the first day at Adelaide.
Australia v England - Fourth Test, Melbourne - 145
Vaughan rescues a floundering England to force Australia into the rare task of chasing a target in their second innings. His 218-ball innings - which included 19 fours and three sixes - helped England to 387, although Australia reached their modest target with five wickets remaining.
2003
Australia v England - Fifth Test, Sydney - 183
Michael Vaughan hit his seventh hundred in his last twelve Tests to put England in control of the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia. Of his eight Test hundreds to date, he had gone on to score at least 177 in half of them.
England v South Africa - First Test, Birmingham - 156
Michael Vaughan missed out on centuries in the two Tests against Zimbabwe at the beginning of the 2003 season in England. But he scored 156 in the first Test of a five match series against South Africa later in the year.
Sri Lanka v England - Second Test, Kandy - 105
Michael Vaughan scored 105, his first century as England captain, in the second Innings of the Test series in Sri Lanka. His dogged innings helped England draw the match in which Sri Lanka was on top throughout.
2004
West Indies v England - Fourth Test, Antigua - 140
England had already won the series by winning each of the first three Tests.
In the Antigua Test, Brian Lara recaptured the record he had lost a few months before to Matthew Hayden. He scored 400 not out.
Michael Vaughan scored his 140 when England were sent in to follow on.
England v West Indies - First Test, Lord's - 103 & 101 not out
Michael Vaughan scored centuries in both innings in the First Test against the West Indies. His 103 in England's first innings of 568 followed 221 from Robert Key and 137 from Andrew Strauss.
In the second innings Michael Vaughan scored 101 not out before declaring at 325 for 5. England then won the match by 210 runs.
2005
England v Bangladesh - First Test, Lord's - 120
Michael Vaughan became the 13th batsman to score a century in his 100th Test innings. He put on 255 for the second wicket with Marcus Trescothick. England beat Bangladesh buy an innings and 261 runs.
England v Australia - Third Test, Manchester - 166
Michael Vaughan scored his fourth century against Australia in the first innings in the third Test. Both sides had won one match in the series to date. This match was drawn when England failed to take the tenth wicket in Australia's second innings.
2007
England v West Indies - Second Test, Leeds - 103
After an absence due to injuries Michael Vaughan returned to play for England in May 2007 and immediately scored a century in his first match. Although this was on the first day of the second test against the West Indies five other Englishmen had already scored centuries in the same series.
England v India - Second Test, Nottingham - 124
Michael Vaughan scored 124 in England's second innings after India had achieved a first innings lead of 283 runs. He scored his 5,000th run in Test cricket during the innings.
2008
England v New Zealand - First Test, Lord's - 106
Michael Vaughan scored 106, his 18th test century, in England's first innings in a weather-interrupted match in May 2008.
2009
Michael Vaughan announced his retirement from cricket at a news conference on 30th June.
Statistics
Michael Vaughan's 183 against Australia in 2003 took his tally for the series to 633 runs - the best aggregate for an England batsman on an Ashes tour since Geoff Boycott scored 657 and John Edrich 648 on the victorious 1970-71 tour. His average of 63.3 was the highest of any batsman, English or Australian, in the series. England went on to win the match by 225 runs, losing the series 4-1. Michael Vaughan was named man of the match and man of the series.
The innings of 183 scored at the SCG took Michael Vaughan to second position in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers ranking of Test batsmen, just behind Australia's Matthew Hayden. The innings took his Test average to 50.93.
And if you're from Yorkshire, Michael's not. He was born in Lancashire!
I wonder just how much the
I wonder just how much the problems that he has had with knee trouble has prayed on his mind. In the latter part of his career his footwork has certainly looked a lot more uncertain than when he first played. If this is the case it is extremely unfortunate that he should be so affected as in his prime he was one of the most elegant batsmen that I have seen.