The Profile
A cricket career with numbers to match the reputation.
Michael Vaughan captained England to their first Ashes win in eighteen years in 2005, which if you were cricket-inclined and watching at the time remains one of the most thrilling sporting summers of the modern British era. The series had everything, and Vaughan was the calm centre of it. He made the captaincy decisions that held up even when the cricket itself seemed to be teetering.
His batting deserves its own discussion. At his peak in 2002 and 2003, he was the number one ranked Test batsman in the world. Scored centuries against every major Test nation. His cover drive is still talked about by cricket commentators as the most graceful shot of his era.
Since retiring, he has built a broadcasting career that runs from BBC Test Match Special through to Fox Cricket in Australia. He is not afraid of a strong opinion and has been at the centre of more than one controversy during that career. What is undeniable is that he knows the game cold and is one of the best readers of a live Test match situation in the business.
His Steam event drew a cricket-heavy room and an Ashes-heavy conversation, which is more or less exactly what you want from a Michael Vaughan event.
“The 2005 Ashes felt like cricket was happening to us, not because of us. You had to hold your nerve and let the game make its own decisions.”
Career highlights
- Ashes winning England captain, 2005
- Number one ranked Test batsman in the world, 2002 to 2003
- 82 Test matches for England, 18 centuries
- OBE for services to cricket
- BBC Test Match Special commentator
- Fox Cricket Australia presenter
First hand
Michael Vaughan at Steam
Michael came in October 2025 and the entire room stayed for an hour of Q and A after the formal event ended. He is as generous with his time in private as he is sharp in public.