Michael Vaughan has given a ringing endorsement to Andrew Strauss following the left-hander's appointment as England captain.
Batsman not interested in a role on England's coaching staff
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has given a ringing endorsement to the appointment of Andrew Strauss, while also ruling himself out of a coaching role.
The Middlesex batsman was quickly handed the job on Thursday following the sudden resignation of Kevin Pietersen.
An obvious candidate following a successful short-term spell in charge in 2006, Strauss will look to unite the squad for the upcoming Test tour of the West Indies.
Vaughan, who was left out of the 16-man party for the series in the Caribbean, feels Strauss is just the man to unite the squad after a difficult few months on and off the field.
Right time
"If there is one man who can get the England team to gel and bring the players together after weeks, or even months, of damaging rumours, it is Andrew Strauss," he said in
The Daily Telegraph.
"In the 18 months since Peter Moores took over as coach the results have not been good, but I think Strauss will be a very, very good captain.
"Strauss is getting the job at the right time, when playing at his best. He gathers his thoughts before he speaks. He man-manages people well. He is respected in our dressing-room and in dressing-rooms around the world.
"Such a decent man can bring back maturity and stability to the England team."
Vaughan is also predicting Pietersen, who returned to England on Thursday morning after a safari holiday, will respond to the pressure following the recent upheaval in the best way possible - by scoring runs.
No interest
The Yorkshire batsman has also confirmed that he is not interested in a role in the coaching set-up, insisting he is only focusing on scoring runs for county, and country, again.
"Strauss and KP get on well although are very different people. There will be pressure on KP after all the controversy and I hope he is not going to be affected by it," he said in his column for the newspaper.
"He has the flair and ability to make world-class bowlers look ordinary, and I think he average 50-odd and become the world number one."
On his own future, he added: "Finally I'd like to add that I'm not interested in coaching England or anyone else at the moment. I want to play and score hundreds for Yorkshire and England again."
