Hussain was replaced as the Test captain by Vaughan six months later. His mission was to reshape an England team scarred by years of Ashes beatings. Only four of the Sydney XI made it to Lord’s for the first Ashes Test in 2005.
“It wasn’t two years of waking up and thinking, ‘ we’ve got to beat Australia’, because the only way to beat Australia is to win the games before”, says Vaughan. After having defeated the other teams, you can’t suddenly enter an Ashes to defeat that side.
” It became obvious we were going to have a fresher team, a younger team, a team that had very little baggage. When we lost the first Test in 2002-2003, it became understandable that many of those players had played for England in the 1990s. “Here we go again,” was what was very clear in that moment.
Those unforgettable eight weeks of summer in 2005 etched the names of Vaughan and his players into English cricketing folklore. Andrew Strauss’ catch and Steven Harmison’s blood drawn from Ponting. Kevin Pietersen’s hair and Gary Pratt’s direct hit. The batting of Andrew Flintoff. Andrew Flintoff’s bowling. Drinking by Andrew Flintoff.
Because of injuries that occurred even before the series ended, the class of 2005 never played together again.
The best part of winning is that it’s all over, says Vaughan, but it’s also quite deflating because it’s already over. All the stress and pressure were hard to deal with, but you get adrenaline from being in a series like that. You ponder what will happen after it is over.
Vaughan did not know it at the time, but lifting the urn was to be his last act as an Ashes cricketer. Due to his troublesome knees, he only participated in two more Tests in the 18 months that followed, including the 2006-2007 defence absence. Under the captaincy of Flintoff, and a shadow of the team that won in 2005, England were dismantled 5-0 by an Australia side determined for revenge.
We got absolutely hammered, and playing with me would have hammered, Vaughan remark. We poked the bear.
“It was difficult to watch because my friends were playing a lot. Once we beat that Australia team once, they weren’t going to allow us to beat them twice, especially in their own backyard”.
Vaughan abruptly left England in 2008, despite still having thoughts of playing in the Ashes in 2009 under Strauss’ captaincy. Form and knees didn’t allow it. Vaughan transitioned from a winning captain to a former cricketer in the four years that followed the Ashes series’ four years. He retired at the age of 34.
When Straussy called me to ask for runs in county cricket, he said he would look at me and we could have a look, but my body was knackered. “I couldn’t do the training or the work.
I once woke up one morning and said, “Come on, let’s try to get that batting slot.” I was thinking there was a chance.
“I probably retired a little too soon, but I would have been incredibly embarrassed in 2009,” I said.
Considering his lofty standing in recent English cricketing history, Vaughan played relatively few Ashes Tests – 10 of them, five away and five at home.