Michael Paul Vaughan (born October 29 1974, Manchester) is an English cricketer, and captain of the England cricket team. He plays county cricket for Yorkshire.

A stylish batsman and occasional off spinner, Vaughan first played his first Test match cricket for England in South Africa in November 1999, with England in the parlous state of four wickets down for two runs. He soon demonstrated his maturity and flair as a batsman, particularly his trade-mark cover drive. Easy comparisons were drawn with Michael Atherton, as both are obdurate batsmen from Manchester, but Vaughan's batting has an extra degree of freedom.

In December 2001, in Bangalore, Vaughan became the second Englishman, after Graham Gooch, and the 8th and most recent player in Test match history, to be given out handled the ball in Tests. In 2002, Vaughan scored 900 runs in seven Tests against Sri Lanka and India, before becoming the first visiting batsman for 32 years to score over 600 runs in a Test match series in Australia. In total, he scored 1,481 Test runs in 2002, the third highest for a calendar year in Test history (trailing Viv Richards' 1,710 in 1976 and and Ricky Ponting's 1503 in 2003).

Vaughan was appointed captain of the England one-day side in 2003, and became captain of the England Test cricket team following the resignation of Nasser Hussain after England had narrowly clung on for a draw in the first Test against South Africa in 2003. England promptly lost his first Test in charge by an innings and 215 runs, but went on to level the series 2-2.

In July, 2004, in the first Test against the West Indies, Vaughan became the eighth England player to score a century in each innings of a Test match (and the third player to do so at Lord's, the other two being Graham Gooch and George Headley).

As of 25 January, 2005, Vaughan has led England to 15 victories in 24 Test matches, drawing five and losing only four. This included a winning streak of eight consecutive matches in 2004 (a record for England), as well as series wins against Bangladesh, the West Indies (at home and away), New Zealand and South Africa.

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