Vaughan's Boast

Churchill defined political skill as "The ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year, and to have the ability afterwards to explain why it did not happen." Politicians and cricketers who do not have this ability should keep their mouths shut.

Whether it's Tony Greig intending to make the West Indies grovel or Glen McGrath predicting a 5-0 victory, cricket has its fair share of players who cannot open their mouths without putting their foot in it. Until recently nobody would have included Michael Vaughan amongst their number.

This week that all changed when Vaughan predicted that England, who are currently ranked 6th in the one-day rankings, were favourites to win the next year's World Cup in the Caribbean. It is difficult to see what he bases this on. I cannot remember the last one-day series that England won. We lost 3-2 to Pakistan, 2-1 to Australia and 4-1 to South Africa, with the only win coming courtesy of Duckworth/Lewis.

Vaughan can only hope that when England again fail to win their first world cup, people will have forgotten his ill advised boast.