Michael Vaughan's one-day career

'Michael Vaughan's terrible at one-day cricket. Let's drop him.' No sooner had everyone agreed this than what do you know, he plays a splendid one-day innings as England chase down 300.

79 off 68 balls wasn't the finest innings of all time, but it was exactly what England have been crying out for all tournament (and before that).

England should still drop him though. It's clear that this was the kind of innings that Michael Vaughan should be playing regularly and could be playing regularly. What's probably stopping him is his own miserable one-day record, which is somehow born of itself. He's conscious of his poor record when he goes out to bat and maybe wants to redress it too much.

To paraphrase ourself: It's like when you're trying to use a urinal and some guy with a six-foot sabre is screaming: 'Come on! Come on! Do it!', at you. Ordinarily, you're quite capable, but it becomes 'a thing'. Michael Vaughan's one-day record has become 'a thing' to him and there's nothing that can be done about that. It's too late.

The other point is that he's old enough that England can realistically drop him on age grounds. One-day cricket's all about the World Cup and by the next one Vaughan will be 36. England are planning for the future, so they can drop him now with no loss of face.

On the other hand, if he gets back into fine form in Test cricket, this is perhaps the only way he could overcome 'the thing' aspect. It still depends on his being dropped from the one-day side though.

Michael Vaughan doesn't need any more one-day experience before the next World Cup. He's got plenty. Drop him. If he happens to turn into Viv Richards at some point during the next four years - fine - bring him back. Let him effect this renaissance away from one-day internationals though.