An era in England cricket came to an end with Michael Vaughan calling it a day, writes espnstar.com’s Rajarshi Gupta.

Having debuted in Test cricket in the November of 1999 against South Africa at Johannesburg, the right handed batsman amassed 5,719 runs at an average of 41.44 and scored 18 hundreds and 18 fifties till he played the last of his 82 matches against the same opponents nine years later in 2008.

Vaughan has been out of favour with the England selectors for the last 11 months now and when he was not even considered for the extended Ashes squad against the touring Australians, the writing was on the wall.

Born in Manchester, Vaughan was a charmer on and off the field. His grace and sublime touch with the bat never failed to touch a chord with the old connoisseurs of the game even in an age of power hitting.

Looking back at Vaughan

Off the field, he was a gentleman, true to the term and even his adversaries have acknowledged a cricketer, who swore by the old world ways of playing tough but gracefully.

The year that announced Frankie

2002 was a watershed year for Frankie, as Vaughan has so fondly been known by his team-mates. Nine hundred runs in seven Tests against Sri Lanka and India followed by a phenomenal tally of over 600 runs against Australia Down Under heralded a new dawn in England cricket.

Vaughan stormed his way into the history books when he led England to a sensational Ashes victory at home, edging the Aussies 2-1 on September 12, 2005, prompting wild celebrations that swept the country for days. The man had realised an ambition and a dream that England captains harboured since Mike Gatting accomplished way back in 1986-87.

His leadership was astute, not aggressive but shrewd, not reckless but composed, qualities that also caught up with his batting. Vaughan's contribution to England did not limit itself to only thousands of runs but also the stubborn resistance that was such a hallmark of an illustrious career.

Things started rubbing him the wrong way when an old knee injury resurfaced in 2006, forcing him back home from the tour of India and keeping him out of the Ashes in Australia, where Andrew Flintoff took over and was handed a 5-0 spanking by the wounded Word Champions.

The England team was in disarray once again. The euphoria of the 2005 series died a natural death and the fraternity realised how much a calm head was being missed at the helm.

Vaughan was handed back the reins on his comeback and eventually gave up the England captaincy after the 2007 World Cup.

However, he etched his way to becoming the most successful England captain, overhauling Peter May's record of 20 Test wins but the magic faded away and the honeymoon was over. His last Test against the Proteas at Edgbaston did not leave him with many happy memories and the frailty showed as he walked off the field, with his shoulders drooping, eyes resigned to the fate that would await him.

Four years from that historic September afternoon, Vaughan has brought down the curtains on what would be remembered as not only a great career but also a reconnaissance in English cricket.