Broken finger puts Vaughan in doubt

England’s preparations for the Test series against the West Indies were in turmoil on Thursday night after jinxed captain Michael Vaughan was almost certainly ruled out of the first two matches with a broken finger.

The 32-year-old’s long-awaited

comeback in the

longer form of the game

appears to have been further

delayed after X-rays revealed

he fractured his right middle

finger while batting for Yorkshire

against Hampshire’s

Aussie paceman Stuart Clark

at the Rose Bowl.

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The news comes as a

devastating blow to Vaughan,

who last played a Test in

December 2005, and the

national selectors, who must

now hurriedly appoint a

stand-in skipper for a series

opener which starts in 13

days.

The first Test at Lord’s

is followed immediately by

the second at Vaughan’s

home ground, Headingley.

Opening the second innings

for Yorkshire on Thursday

evening, Vaughan had made

16 when a delivery from Clark

climbed sharply and struck

the base of his right middle

finger.

He was treated for five

minutes by physio Scott

McAllister and briefly

attempted to play on.

But after facing three more

balls, Vaughan — who was

clearly in considerable pain —

signalled to the dressingroom

and promptly retired

hurt.

At the close of play he

was driven to a local hospital for the X-ray which brought

such unwelcome news.

It is a nightmare setback for

the man who guided England

to Ashes victory in 2005, given

that he has spent so long

striving for full fitness.

He has

not played Test cricket since

being forced to return home

early from the tour of

Pakistan for knee surgery.

His comeback last summer

was interrupted by yet more

knee trouble which led to yet

another operation and even

when he fought his way back

to fitness in time for the

Commonwealth Bank one-day

series in Australia, he was

temporarily sidelined by a

hamstring strain.

Having endured a disappointing

World Cup campaign,

both as a batsman and

captain of a misfiring team,

Vaughan had returned to

Yorkshire and marked his

first championship match of

the season with an impressive

innings of 72 on Wednesday.

Now this accident has interrupted

his progress, the

player and his country will be

hoping that his finger will

mend quickly, although it was

unclear last night exactly how

long he would be out for.

England are a better team

— in Test cricket at least —

with Vaughan at the helm,

and losing him again means

the dreaded debate about the

best available replacement

must begin all over again.

Andrew Flintoff was the

man entrusted with leading

the Ashes campaign Down

Under in Vaughan’s absence,

but the fact that England

subsided to a humiliating 5-0

whitewash suggests the

selectors will not turn to

Freddie so readily this time.

Furthermore, he was

stripped of the one-day vice-captaincy

after his drunken

pedalo antics, his batting

form has disintegrated and he

has admitted that any

thoughts about the captaincy

have been pushed to the back

of his mind.

That leaves Andrew Strauss

as the outstanding candidate.

There were many observers

who felt he should have been

put in charge in Australia, in

light of his growing assurance

in the job last summer.

He

guided England to a 3-0 series

win over Pakistan and that is

likely to be enough to win the

vote, despite the fact that

Paul Collingwood has been

mentioned in dispatches as a

possible one-day captain.

While Yorkshire top the

LV County Championship,

reigning champions Sussex

slumped to their second

consecutive innings defeat

on Thursday.

Replying to Kent’s

368 at Canterbury, Sussex

subsided to 102 all out by

lunch and were dismissed

again for just 160 as they

followed on, succumbing by

an innings and 106 runs.

Five of their batsmen failed

to score in the first innings, as

Ryan McLaren and Yasir

Arafat claimed four wickets

apiece. Second time around it

was unheralded Simon Cook

who orchestrated the visitors’

downfall with six for 35.

Wicketkeeper Matt Prior,

named in the England Performance

Squad and on course

to make his Test debut at

Lord’s, hit 35 off 25 balls,

living and dying by the sword

after a run of low scores.