Archie Vaughan follows in father’s footsteps with England captaincy call

Twenty years after his father Michael led England to Ashes glory, Archie Vaughan has been named captain of England U19s for their tour of South Africa this month.

Vaughan burst into Somerset’s County Championship team in September as an opening batsman bowling excellent off-spin in partnership with England’s Jack Leach. Aged 18, he averaged 33.7 with the bat and took 15 wickets at 20 as Somerset fell agonisingly short of the Championship title once more.

Vaughan was part of the Lions camp in South Africa before Christmas, and has now been appointed as an 18-strong squad’s official leader for three youth ODIs and two Tests in the Western Cape over the next month.

He leads a squad that includes his Somerset team-mate Thomas Rew, the 17-year-old wicketkeeper-bat who is brother of James, Farhan Ahmed, the 16-year-old Nottinghamshire spinner who is bother of England’s Rehan, and highly promising seamers James Minto, a left-armer from Durham, Harry Moore, a Derbyshire all-rounder, and Eddie Jack of Hampshire.

One player who is eligible but not included is Lancashire’s Rocky Flintoff, because the 16-year-old has been promoted to the England Lions squad that is in Australia. Flintoff’s father, Andrew, is head coach of the Lions.

Michael Vaughan captained England in 51 of his 82 Tests, but also captained the U19s team in 1994. Archie, who plays for Somerset after being educated at Millfield School, is delighted to follow in his footsteps.

“I found out that I was going to be captain during the training camp before Christmas and it was a very special moment,” he said. “To get the opportunity to represent England at this level is really special in itself, but to lead the team out is something else.

“It will obviously be a good challenge and we’ll have to adapt to the conditions. The training camp that we had over there before Christmas was really beneficial and we’re all ready and raring to go.

“If someone had told me 12 months ago that I would have forced my way into the Somerset first team and be captaining the Under-19s I wouldn’t have believed them. It’s happened quickly but I’m going to keep my feet on the ground and work harder and harder.

“The next step is to try and win in South Africa and hopefully I can perform as well.”

The team flies to South Africa on Thursday and is coached by Michael Yardy, the former England all-rounder.