Vaughan summons Ashes spirit
Michael Vaughan drew on his experience of winning the Ashes to help England complete an impressive fightback against New Zealand and claim their first overseas series victory in three years.
Facing a series defeat to New Zealand after losing the opening Test in Hamilton, Vaughan refused to panic.
Instead he thought back to the glorious summer of 2005, when England lost the first npower Test against Australia by 239 runs at Lord’s but fought back to regain the Ashes in thrilling fashion.
It was that experience which taught Vaughan that, even in a three-Test series, it is possible to fight back, and he watched his side improve in each match to complete a 2-1 series triumph with a 121-run win in the final Test.
Their victory was their first overseas series triumph since beating South Africa in 2004-5 and their first victory in a three-Test series after falling behind since winning in Sri Lanka seven years ago.
“I drew back on a lot of the experience of the last few years,” explained Vaughan. “Obviously against Australia we went 1-0 down and I know it’s achievable to come back.
“Sometimes when you go 1-0 up you can become a little bit complacent and take winning for granted. We just had to make sure we had a good first day in the second Test at Wellington and I really thought if we had a good first day the confidence would drive through the dressing room.”
He stressed: “It was very important the team got back to winning ways and we had to do it sooner rather than later because the longer you leave it, the harder it becomes.
“When you go 1-0 down you know you have to ask yourselves a lot of questions to do that but we’ve shown a huge amount of character and a real will to want to go out there and win and that was important.
"Hopefully this will continue. Hopefully we can win the series at home and set the series up against South Africa this summer, which is going to be a real test of a young team.”
Victory on the last day of the third Test in Napier was achieved largely through a Test-best bowling performance from left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, who finished with 6-126 and importantly removed the dangerous Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum in successive overs after they had forged a 104-run stand.
England seamer Stuart Broad continued to mature Buy this photoBut Panesar, like all the other bowlers, also had to suffer some punishment from 19-year-old debutant Tim Southee, who finished unbeaten on 77 off 40 balls having hit the seventh fastest half-century in Test history off 29 balls.
Three players in particular - man of the series Ryan Sidebottom, wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose and seamer Stuart Broad - will return home from the tour very happy with their contribution to the series.
Vaughan admitted: “I do think there’s a lot of talent inside that dressing room and it came out a little bit more this week but there’s still a lot of talent being left in the dressing room so we can get better and we can improve in all areas.
“We know there’s a lot of work to be done but we’re certainly moving in the right direction and every game we’ve played a little bit better. Starting in May against New Zealand at Lord’s, I hope we can improve and play even better than we have done here.”
With England due to face the same opponents in the opening npower Test at Lord’s on May 15, there is little time to hone those skills before they face a bigger test in South Africa later in the summer.
“We still have to groove, there’s no doubt about that,” conceded coach Peter Moores.
“We know we have work to do but it’s great to get a win and good to come away overseas to get a win because it creates the confidence you need to take into the domestic season in England.”
Captain Michael Vaughan lifts the trophy after winning the tense series © Getty Images
