Calling the Shots: My Story as England Captain

by Michael Vaughan

The most successful England cricket captain for 20 years delivers an enthralling behind-the-scenes account of his time at the helm. This book concentrates on leadership, with Michael describing his approach to captaincy, his aims and thoughts about the various Test series, as well as his decision-making and management strategies.

Genres: Autobiography

270 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Michael Paul Vaughan OBE is a retired cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England. A classically elegant right-handed batsman and occasional off-spinner, Vaughan was ranked the best batsman in the world following the 2002/3 Ashes, in which he scored 633 runs, including three centuries. Vaughan was an opening batsman and forged a successful England opening partnership with Marcus Trescothick, although he had often batted in the middle order for England. He was the captain of the England team when it regained the Ashes in 2005, eighteen years after having last won the trophy.

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's no doubting what Michael Vaughan achieved as England captain. The 2005 Ashes series will always be one of the greatest ever, but his autobiography is really not a good read. It's slow, and rather dire, with only a few good insights. I think you could probably guess a few things before reading them, and his anecdotes are really not anything special and wouldn't make the cut for an after-dinner speech. It feels like a rush job, which I think is what it was after that success.

[Sunset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Standard autobiographical work. More of a diary entry detailing his initial captaincy tenure. Timepass read.

[Neil Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fan of Michael Vaughan and 2005 ashes series was epic but another autobiography that doesn't offer as much as I hoped.

[Mick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Standard autobiographical work. More of a diary entry detailing his initial captaincy tenure. Timepass read.

[Harvey Tordoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

You have to be a cricket fan to enjoy this book. And you probably have to be not Australian. Coming from Yorkshire, Michael Vaughan's home county, and being a passionate arm-chair follower of England's exploits, I expected to enjoy it, but it left me disappointed. Perhaps it suffers from the joint-venture syndrome. Although not explicitly identified as the ghost writer, Martin Hardy is profiled on the back cover.

It is a faithful record of the first half of Vaughan's time as England's captain, but the book fails to match the excitement of those inspirational events. Vaughan shares his inner musings on what he wanted from the team, but repeats himself to such an extent that I found myself skipping paragraphs, even pages. He is probably, by nature, not a man much given to hyperbole, and perhaps I was hoping for more of a "Boy's Own" approach. Whatever the reason, I did not recapture the thrill that I felt at the time, as Vaughan dragged the England team out of the mire of self-doubt and under-achievement and turned it into one of the most successful teams in the world.

And the final match, at The Oval in 2005, which would determine the fate of The Ashes? Surely that was worthy of more detail, more excitement, but Vaughan covers it in a mere dozen pages.