Proteas pay tribute to Vaughan

South Africa might have finished Michael Vaughan’s tenure as England Test captain - but he went with their ultimate respect.

Vaughan, 33, will be conspicuous by his absence when the npower Test series concludes with the fourth and final match at the Brit Oval, starting tomorrow.

When news filtered through to the victorious Proteas camp at the weekend Vaughan had quit the England captaincy following the npower series defeat, their response was to send messages of praise.

“Michael Vaughan had a huge amount of respect in our dressing room,” said South Africa coach Mickey Arthur. “We respected him as a leader.

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur heaped praise on Michael Vaughan's captaincy

“I thought he was magnificent in the five years he gave to England. It was very sad for all of us to watch on Sunday as he gave his resignation speech and we all felt for him.

“A lot of the guys in our side have sent messages to him, congratulating him on the job he did. He really was a fantastic leader.”

South Africa hope to spoil Kevin Pietersen’s Test captaincy bow and conclude a 3-0 campaign victory, which would provide momentum for their testing series ahead this winter in Australia.

“All the guys are really looking at this as the start really,” said Arthur. “This has been a hugely significant result for us and they all want to be part of it going forward.

“If they keep up the standard they have been giving us there is no reason why they can’t be part of the future.

“For us to be 2-0 coming into the last Test is amazing, I never thought in my wildest dreams we would be coming to the Oval and it would be a dead-rubber game.”

Fast bowler Dale Steyn might have been rushed back from a fractured thumb had the series still been live but the 25-year-old will now rest the injury further ahead of the limited-overs campaign, meaning the Proteas are likely to retain an unchanged XI.