Hee hee.Originally Posted by Burney
You have to admit that Vaughan was a fine captain though.....
Hee hee.
You have to admit that Vaughan was a fine captain though.....
He was. And I loved watching him as a bat. It was frustrating the way he declined and allowed technical errors to creep into his game - such as missing straight ones on off stump. Although how much of that was down to the fact that his knee was fûcked I couldn't say.
It was always a flaw in his game but definitely exacerbated by the knee problem. He was also always quite a **** fielder which is weird for a batsman in the modern age
Sometimes, if I didn't know better than to think a top pro could suffer from such a schoolboy flaw, I could have sworn he got his head up when going for those big, booming drives
A lot to do with it I would guess. My knee was knackered in my last couple of seasons and it made driving off the front foot and judging line much more difficult.
Some of his knocks in his peak years were outstanding.
Yes. You can't really get to the pitch properly with a crook knee and can end up hitting on the up through the line, which is risky if the ball deviates even slightly.
Its psychological as well. Even when you do reach the pitch you tend to reach it late which throws the arms out of timing with the head and body. You are also reluctant to throw all your weight onto the front knee which means you don't get properly over the ball. I felt like I was striking the ball in front of me rather than under the eyes. I started punching down the ground rather than the full drive and where is the beauty in that.
Defensive strokes are ok on fuller deliveries but there is a temptation to reach a bit where you don't get to the pitch. That I could handle because I always had a great leave, but it certainly made it harder to judge.
Turning for the second run was no picnic either.
That's what boundaries are for, P
They are harder to reach when you cant drive properly. I started to rely on runs shovelled through the on side. I am still ashamed to admit it.....
Still, its not as if I was the biggest hitter or the fastest scorer to begin with. It was a bit like Per losing a yard of pace
Almost all of it, I'd say. Perhaps he could've adapted but it surely cannot be an easy thing to do at the top level.
"Plenty of strikers can score goals," he said, gesturing to the famous old stands casting shadows around us.
"But a lot have found it difficult wearing the number 9 shirt for The Arsenal."
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