Michael Vaughan

He’s been hitting ‘sixes’ all of his professional life, but Michael Vaughan will have to go for ‘10s’ if he wants to be a contender in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Michael is a retired cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England. He has captained the England team to 26 wins – a national record – including an historic Ashes win in 2005 which saw the side regain the trophy for the first time in 18 years. He made his international Test debut in 1999.

Michael was born in Manchester but moved to Sheffield when he was nine. His earliest memory of cricket was playing whilst his father captained a team based in Manchester.

Michael was also an avid footballer, although he stated that on taking up the sport professionally his “knees would never have lasted”.

In 1993, Michael made his professional cricket debut for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and soon after that he captained the England Under-19 side. Since then Michael has racked up 18 test centuries and championships at national and county level. Michael retired in 2009 and has since become a pundit and interviewer for BBC Sport, as well as a newspaper columnist. 

Michael lives in Derbyshire with his wife, Nichol, and their three children, Tallula Grace, Matthew and Jemima.