Yet his unconventional route to the top perhaps explains an anti-climactic exit from cricket.

Vaughan, who honed his skills with Sheffield Collegiate at Abbeydale, never truly had first-class claims to be elevated from Yorkshire to England, and it was only the intuition of coach Duncan Fletcher which delivered his international talent.

It has been no surprise therefore, since September last year, that he has failed to reclaim his Test place.

It was perhaps predictable too that, unable to earn the right to perform centre stage, at the age of the 34 the adopted South Yorkshireman has apparently decided on as timely an exit as possible.

The culmination, of course, of Fletcher's instinct - not to mention years of painstaking strategy, and several other favourable factors outside either man's control - was a glorious, finest hour for Vaughan, his 2005 Ashes winners and modern-day English cricket.

Even without that rollercoaster summer of success, unprecedented for a generation since the 1980s dramas of Botham and Brearley, Vaughan's credentials would be strong as an English batsman and captain out of the top drawer.

He showed his mettle in his first Test innings. Thrown into the chaos of England's two for four in Johannesburg, he responded with a class and calmness which - though unable to alter the course of match or series - provided an early hint of a significant career.

Within two years, Vaughan had exceeded the expectations of consensus - that a sound technique and unflappable temperament meant he could aspire to be England's new Michael Atherton.

In making 900 runs against Sri Lanka and India in 2002 and following up with more than 600 in an Ashes series loss Down Under, Vaughan propelled himself to the top of the world rankings and just about the best of his capabilities as a batsman.

He did so too not with Atherton-esque doggedness but a flair all his own, characterised by a trademark cover-drive and pull one-two - in either order but so often from consecutive deliveries as to illustrate uncanny ability against world-class opposition.

It was against one of the greats, South Africa's Shaun Pollock, that Vaughan produced one of his most memorable performances - on the eve, ironically, of his coronation as captain.

He needed all his stoicism to survive as Pollock beat the outside edge so many times as to suggest an unfair contest in bowlers' conditions at Edgbaston.

But survival blossomed into classic Vaughan strokeplay, and it was on the back of his 156 in a rain-affected draw that Nasser Hussain resigned as captain - and Vaughan took his place.