This is the right time for Michael Vaughan to step down as England captain and it is a sensible decision for English cricket. We all think Michael is a good leader but he can’t be continually picked on captaincy alone. Every player’s first responsibility to the team is either to make runs or take wickets. If you can’t do that then your authority diminishes, your own personal confidence ebbs away and it harms the balance of the team — something we have seen with England in recent times.

England would like to play five bowlers, which they did during the Test match at Headingley, but the batting is too inconsistent. That was evident at Edgbaston when they reverted to four bowlers and six batsmen. They were a lopsided unit and it was soon clear that they were a bowler short.

For some time now, Michael’s form with the bat has been poor. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he just doesn’t make enough runs for Yorkshire, never mind England. When a Test player goes back to his county, he ought to be performing like a superstar because he’s dropping down a level. But for Michael that has not been the case for four years.

Some of his supporters and well wishers keep reminding us of his great Ashes series in Australia in 2002-03. I’m sorry, but that was five years ago and the one lesson all sportsmen have to accept is that we’re only as good as our last performance. Playing sport is not a nine to five job. If you want a guaranteed career, with a nice little comfort zone, then go and work in an office somewhere. We all love Michael. He’s the most personable and likeable lad you could ever meet and he has done a good job for English cricket.

But the bare fact is that we’ve been losing it for some time. England have been going nowhere. You could see it when Duncan Fletcher was in charge and even though he has gone, we’re still no better off. We’re making the same mistakes in the batting.

Michael Vaughan’s philosophy has been to try and imitate Australia. But what he forgets is that over the last 15 years, Australia have had better individual players and been a better team than anyone else in the world. My mum could have captained them because they’ve been so far ahead of every other international team.

Michael felt that by replicating their attacking approach to batting, it would automatically reap rewards. What has happened is that our batsmen have forgotten to play to their strengths. Everybody is different. Imitating Australia is a great form of flattery for Australians but it doesn’t necessarily mean success for us. This gung-ho attitude by our batsmen means they get themselves out too often.

Just look at the Edgbaston Test. How many South Africans got out to bad shots and how many English batsmen did the same? Twice as many England batsmen played rash or stupid shots. We’ve forgotten what you have to do as a batsman. Every individual has to find his own way to make runs. You can’t just imitate the best and think it will work for you.

I’ll take a slow hundred any time against Kevin Pietersen’s 13 off five balls at Headingley or when he plays brilliantly for 94 and then gives it away like he did in the last Test.

That one stupid mistake, which came when he had the South Africans in his pocket, could have cost us the game. If he had gone on to make 150, Michael might now be a winning captain. When Graeme Smith got the chance, he played one of the great innings. He made 154 not out and was there at the end to finish the job. No rash shots. No hubris or ego got in the way. He just wanted to win the game.

I take no pleasure in seeing Michael go. And I don’t think anyone else should. He’s a nice lad. He has done a fine job for England. But I think the captaincy, a lack of runs and a loss of confidence have got to him in the end. It’s better to go now, with dignity, than just hang on.