They might have made another ruthless call within weeks had Nasser Hussain not saved them the bother by retiring within days of Andrew Strauss’s accomplished debut at Lord’s.
Now, equally difficult decisions need to be made. England have seven specialist batsmen contesting six places on the tour of South Africa, for which a 16-man squad will be named on Wednesday.
Vaughan himself, Strauss, Marcus Trescothick and Graham Thorpe are certainties, and rightly so. So, too, more controversially, is Mark Butcher, who was told almost two weeks ago that, despite his frustrating injuries, his place was secure. Rather than rush to get fit, he was told to take his time and ensure he was ready to tour.
That is an assurance the selectors may rue now that both Robert Key and Ian Bell — replacements in turn for Butcher — have made runs.
By rights, Key stands ahead of Bell in the pecking order. Both have scored prolifically for their counties throughout this season, yet Key was chosen ahead of Bell when Butcher was first injured five weeks ago, and has since played match-winning innings of 221 at Lord’s and an unbeaten 93 at Old Trafford.
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It would be hard to leave him behind. But Bell, at The Oval on Thursday, played an innings of rare maturity. Can England afford to leave idle such a talent? Let’s put things in perspective. Bell is just 22. He has spent several years working his way through England age-group sides, excelling at each level, before graduating effortlessly to county cricket with Warwickshire while still in his teens. He became the county’s youngest ever century-maker, added a second hundred and performed grittily for England A in the Caribbean, all before his 20th birthday.
Had England picked him two years ago, as they almost did, he might have done his growing up with England; instead he stayed with Warwickshire and shrank into his shell. He spent a winter with the national academy, where he apparently learnt only slowly, and another playing for the University of Western Australia, with better results. This year he has blossomed.
Make no mistake, Bell is an exceptional talent. He may be too self-absorbed (and have too few relaxations save for golf) but that is a common fault among the highly gifted. He needs to explore himself before putting it to use.
“I’m competitive, but against myself, not other people,” he told me two years ago. “I want to be top run-scorer (for England). I want to know how good I can be. I like to look to the future and make sure I’ve done everything I can to score a hundred. I want a career playing for England, not a couple of games. Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart consistently performed for 100 Tests. That’s what I want to do.”
Three days ago, Bell — 5ft 9in, compact and well-organised — played an innings of character, in a crisis, that few Englishman of any age could match. He walked to the wicket at 64 for three and hauled his side out of trouble, contributing 70 in a partnership of 146 with his captain, riding out a rough baptism at the hands of Fidel Edwards.
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Who else has coped so well at such an age? Only the exceptionally gifted. Denis Compton remains England’s youngest century-scorer at 20 years 19 days. If we add that David Gower, Len Hutton and Peter May also scored Test hundreds before turning 22, and Michael Atherton did so at around the age Bell is now, we get a measure of the company he’s keeping.
Key has a refreshingly forthright approach to his cricket. He’ll never be intimidated by Aussies and will counter-attack with a belligerence that the more reticent Bell might not. But Bell has the security of his technique; unlike Key, he isn’t likely to play round straight balls from medium-pacers.
And grittily though Butcher played in the Caribbean, one suspects the Australians might jettison a man who turns 32 tomorrow, averages in the mid-30s and is without a century in 14 Tests. But then again, who is the more likely to score runs next year against the Australians? The debate is academic. Bell, one suspects, was told even before he took the field at The Oval that he would not be touring. The likeliest place he’ll be seen scoring runs this winter is back at the University of Western Australia. But that’s not how it should be.