Vaughan says he wants to restore England's confidence

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

SYDNEY, Jan 7 (Reuters) Michael Vaughan said his first job after taking back the England captaincy was to rebuild his team's shattered confidence after their humiliating Ashes defeat.

Vaughan missed England's 5-0 drubbing by Australia because of a knee injury but was installed as skipper for the upcoming limited-overs series with the world champions and New Zealand after passing a fitness test.

Andrew Flintoff had captained England in the 32-year-old Vaughan's absence.

''I do expect that there will be a few mental frailties because of what's happened but that can soon change once you start winning a few games,'' Vaughan told reporters today.

''I inherit a very talented team, but there will be an effect from the 5-0 Ashes whitewash. Anyone who says there won't will be lying.'' Vaughan, who captained England to their shock Ashes series win in 2005, said the players needed to accept they had played poorly in the Ashes and move on to the next challenge.

''We won the Ashes in 2005 and collectively took all the praise, and we have to collectively take the criticism now,'' he said.

''We have made mistakes and we're sorry for that, but this is a great challenge for us to try and pick ourselves up.

''Mentally the players are going to be tested, because they will have been hurt and affected by the Ashes series. My job is to try and ensure that they're not affected that much.'' EXTRA BURDEN Vaughan said one of his most important tasks was to help all-rounder Flintoff rediscover his form.

Flintoff struggled during the Ashes after being handed the captaincy and Vaughan said he hoped he would return to his best after being freed of the extra responsibility.

''My challenge as a captain is to get Freddie (Flintoff) back to playing how he did a year or so ago, when we all saw him being a leader by the way he batted, bowled and fielded,'' Vaughan said.

''It's a great job but a tough job, being captain. He's done a remarkable job in my view under the circumstances, the pressure that he's been under.'' Vaughan, who has not played an international match in more than a year, is not expecting any immediate miracles from England but said the team's goal was to get themselves ready for the World Cup in the West Indies in March and April.

''This is a great challenge for myself and the team to see if we can ... learn from the mistakes that we've made over the last year or so and try and develop a winning culture again,'' he said.

''What we've got to do is try and create an environment where the players can go out and express themselves in the pressure situations.

''This is a great opportunity to start afresh, develop a strategy for the one-day game and build up to a World Cup.'' REUTERS SAM BST1610

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X