Interview: Michael Vaughan, England cricket captain

The Ashes series over the coming eight weeks between the England and Australia cricket teams is one of the most eagerly awaited sporting clashes of the year. Confronting a resurgent England side is the best team in the world, bar none - and moreover a team that has held that top spot for at least a decade.

So how, as the leader of the England team, do you approach the toughest of tests? silicon.com editor Tony Hallett recently caught up with England captain Michael Vaughan to find out more about his methods and get an insight into approaches to management and leadership that may just hold lessons for the rest of us.

Driving into the grounds of the tranquil east Midlands hotel, it only takes a minute or two for the penny to drop. This is, of course, just the sort of retreat where sports teams hold regular get-togethers or stay before a big game.

Plenty of footballers and rugby players have passed through these parts but this day finds my focus on cricket - partly on the summer ahead and partly on what one of the most successful sportsmen of the past two or three years can pass on to the rest of us.

No sooner have I passed the resident school of falconry, than I notice fast bowler Steve Harmison walking by. I must have been straining my neck upwards and to the left at the time - or at least searching my pockets relieved to find tape recorder and pad present and correct - because I barely notice a friendly "Hello" from my right. Only a few yards later on do the voice and face of England captain Michael Vaughan register. Amidst Channel 4 TV cameras and the occasional newspaper hack, he comes across as friendly and down-to-earth.

An hour later and I'm dodging birds of prey again but leaving feeling encouraged by what I've heard, happy not only to find out about a team using technology fully but with a greater belief in an England series victory than pretty much every sports writer in the land.

The background

Vaughan finished 2002 on a high. England may have failed in their attempt to win back the Ashes in Australia but he was hailed as the best Test match batsman in the world, his technique admired, his stats over that difficult series Down Under speaking for themselves. But then came the World Cup, the Zimbabwe fiasco, and ultimately taking the captaincy reigns from his predecessor, Nasser Hussain, with barely time for a second thought.

silicon.com: Was captaincy something you had always dreamt of?
Michael Vaughan: Not really, I captained a bit of school boy stuff. Never captained Yorkshire. Did England under-19s, England A. It's a position that I've never shouted about, saying I should be the captain. I always thought it was for other people, in the selectors and management, to choose me if they thought I warranted the position. And they obviously saw something they liked and they gave it to me.

There was surely some momentum, taking over when not at rock bottom?
MV: When I took over the team weren't, maybe, in a position of great strength. It was the start of the South Africa series, we'd just been hammered in Australia… [there was the incident about playing in] Zimbabwe and we had been knocked out the World Cup early. Nasser handed the captaincy over after one test match against South Africa where maybe if the weather hadn't intervened we may have lost that first test match.

What was the transition like?
MV: To go straight into the test match [Vaughan had, in effect, a day to prepare] - it was a very difficult position for the first week or two because I was captaining the likes of Stewart, Butcher, Thorpe, Hussein, Gough - a lot of players who had played a lot more than I had and it was quite important to try to gain their respect early. And the way we played in my first game in charge I think proved that you have to be so switched on to play at the top level. The team were all over the oche because of the change and the new position, and players' minds were wandering elsewhere. That just suddenly gave us all a wake-up call to say 'If you ain't got your mind on the job, you shouldn't be there doing it'.

Having senior professionals around you who had played more games than you - that happens in all walks of life. People become managers of people who were their best friends at work. Did they automatically give you their respect?
MV: No, you have to earn it. When you first get the job they're wary of you. They're looking at you thinking 'Are you going to change? Are you going to change the team tactics?' But the most important thing I think is that I made it clear to them that I like their advice. I wanted them to be helping all the youngsters. I wanted them to be passing on their expertise and experience. I certainly didn't want them to keep it within. I want players with experience and expertise to pass it on to the young players so maybe we can progress the young players a little bit faster.