So Michael Vaughan [Images] is the greatest captain in the history of England [Images] cricket.

It says so in the record books, England's victory over the West Indies [Images] at Old Trafford in June took Vaughan's total of Test wins as skipper to 21. Victory at Durham's Riverside ground a week later made it 22.

That's two more than Peter May, four more than Mike Brearley and nine more than Mike Atherton.

But numbers alone are not always an accurate gauge of greatness.

Which is not to say that Vaughan is not a fine leader of men, or that his captaincy was not crucial in delivering the Ashes success of 2005.

There is no question that Vaughan has brought a solidity and an intelligence to the England team since taking over from Nasser Hussain in the summer of 2003.

His value can perhaps best be measured by the implosion of England in Australia at the back end of last year and the beginning of this when his knee injury forced him to sit out the Ashes return series and Andrew Flintoff's [Images] side turned the glory of 16 months previously into a humiliating whitewash.

England have benefited from Vaughan's steadying influence, his imaginative field placings and his intuitive touch when juggling his bowling resources.

There is a calmness about England when Vaughan is in charge, one brought about by the fact that he is respected and admired by every one of his team-mates, even if his recent ill-judged criticism of Flintoff might have frayed loyalty in certain parts.

Vaughan, however, undoubtedly benefited from the pioneering work initiated by former coach Duncan Fletcher and Hussain, especially regarding central contracts which allowed England an exclusive core of players.

In 2004 those same players were unbeaten, winning 11 matches and drawing two, including an England record of eight consecutive victories.

They beat the West Indies away for the first time since 1968, won all seven home Tests against New Zealand [Images] and the West Indies, before beating South Africa away for the first time since 1965.

Impressive stuff, all of which laid the foundations for the famous Ashes series triumph.

But does that make Vaughan a better captain than Ray Illingworth, whose 12 England victories trail way behind his total but who won them when the pickings were not so easy from emerging nations such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and when Test cricket rocked to a spectacular Caribbean beat?

Does it make him better than May, the most stylish of batsmen and whose 20 wins came in 41 matches?

And, most pointedly, does it make him a better captain than Mike Brearley, whose 18 triumphs in 31 Tests, including seven series successes, gives him a win ratio of 58%?

I would argue not, with Brearley still the man to beat when it comes to the art of sporting leadership.

Actually, Brearley made captaincy into a science, combining his analytical brain and understanding of psychology to get the best out of his players.

Brearley's reconstruction of the hero who was Ian Botham remains perhaps the greatest example of mind over matter in cricket history.

With Botham's confidence shot to bits after being relieved of the captain after having made 34 runs in four innings in the 1981 Ashes series the selectors plucked Brearley out of county cricket.

Many expected Botham to step down altogether. Instead he responded with the unforgettable 149 not out at Headingley which, together with Bob Willis' eight for 43, won the third Test to square the series.

He weighed in with crucial wickets and another century at Old Trafford as England went on to win the series 3-1.

None of it would have been possible without Brearley's inspirational man-management.

Which is just the quality Vaughan might need to restore his strained relationship with Flintoff and get the Lancashire man back to his best when he recovers from his injured ankle.

- Copyright PA Sport 2007

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