Crying out for Tears

It was actually rather good to see Michael Vaughan shed a tear as he announced that he would be relinquishing the captaincy of the England cricket team. Nobody likes to see a grown man cry, especially when the world’s TV cameras, radio microphones and photographers are in his face at the time, and particularly when Vaughan has served English cricket so well over the 51 test matches he was in charge.

The reason why I found his emotion so heart-warning was that it proved just how much leading England meant to this proud Lancastrian-turned Yorkshireman. His tears were not about the money he will be losing, nor about pride. They were for the sheer, unadulterated joy of having the job every English cricketing youngster dreams of, and then giving it all up. Nothing more and nothing less.

I am not going to knock Formula One. It is a different sport, with different values and objectives. But wouldn’t it be nice if, every so often, a driver revealed true emotion over a race or a decision to quit, rather than giving off the impression (fairly or not) that their bank balance is groaning under the strain of the coppers in it, so all’s well that ends well.