Vaughan: Give Strauss a break

Vaughan: Strauss will need a break

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Michael Vaughan believes Andrew Strauss should be rested for the Test and one-day series against Bangladesh in the new year.

Strauss will lead England into battle on a gruelling winter tour of South Africa later this month, with the teams taking the field in two Twenty20 internationals, five one-dayers and four Tests.

With another busy summer ahead of the players in 2010 followed by a trip Down Under for the defence of the Ashes, many players will need to have periods of rest over the coming months.

And the former England skipper says Strauss will need all the breaks he can get if he is to remain on an even keel both mentally and physically.

"You've got to look at the bigger picture," he said. "The guys are playing far too much.

"It's not the actual playing side, it's the mental side of being away and constantly being in a cricket environment.

"So just taking Straussy out for a three-week break will regenerate his energy levels going into next summer and we have to have all our players fit and firing for next winter which is the big one - the Ashes."

Strategy synergy

Vaughan added that he is delighted to see Strauss and team director Andy Flower gelling so weel, something which the former Yorkshire batsman believes is pivotal to England's success.

"(They're) very consistent. I don't think Andy Flower tries to get any bit of the limelight, he stays very much in the background," he added.

"It's very clear that Andrew Strauss is the captain and in control of the team. I think that's important - I think the captain is the most important person.

"The coach does work underneath him but on preparation days he becomes the most important person - but on match days it's the captain.

"It looks like those two have got the formation and the strategies going perfectly.

"That's why you've seen a good set of England performances."

Consistent

Vaughan admitted that wasn't quite the case where he and former England coach Peter Moores were concerned.

"I've got a huge amount of respect for him as a person," he said of Moores. "I think he's a good coach - I think he'll work wonders at Lancashire - but myself and him didn't quite click as a partnership.

"For a captain and coach the partnership has to be good.

"When it has been good for England, as it is now between Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, the performance is a lot more consistent.

"The captain and the coach, whenever they're speaking to the team, have to be speaking from the same hymn sheet.

"And maybe mine and Peter's relationship wasn't as strong in that bond on a professional basis."