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Michael Vaughan and Graeme Smith have been captain of their respective cricketing nations since 2003, and they lock horns again this Summer. Andrew Hughes assesses that challenge, which he feels will be slightly sterner than the Kiwis.

In May, England will warm up with a little light sparring against one of the worst New Zealand squads ever to leave the land of the long white cloud. It might be a boost to the ego to rack up another series win, but it certainly won't get them ready for the second half of the summer, just as watching a re-run of Bambi is no preparation for Godzilla.

Because the second team arriving this summer is South Africa and if this renewal of an old rivalry is anything like previous series, it will not be pretty. Expect fraying tempers, vicious bouncers and verbal volleys in at least three languages. The Proteas play their cricket in the style of their captain: hard, uncompromising and aggressive. It will be compulsive viewing.

This is the third time Graeme Smith has pitted his wits against Michael Vaughan and he has yet to win. There is a curious symmetry to their careers as captain. Both were appointed within four months of one another in 2003 and that summer's dramatic drawn series between the two teams was an early baptism of fire for both men.

But though they share a similar length of tenure, they could not be more different, as people or as captains. Even their batting offers a marked contrast. Whereas Smith is a dominant opener, a hefty-forearmed smasher in the Hayden mould, Vaughan is happier at number three, a technically orthodox batsman who's cover drives have a crisp style and elegance that is distinctive. Cold statistics don't lie however and though both batsmen have been in a slow decline for a number of years, Smith is the superior of the two, averaging in the high forties to Vaughan's low forties.

As captains, Smith is in the mould of Graham Gooch, a leader by example. He had little choice. He was made captain at the age of twenty-two and had barely been in the team a year before he was handed the captaincy. Many people in and around the squad were sceptical. But his towering performances with the bat soon established an awesome reputation and there has been no doubt ever since who was the captain. At times he has led his team by sheer force of personality, one steely glare being enough to nip mutiny in the bud.

Vaughan's leadership has been more understated, calm assurance rather than a belligerent leader of men. He has shown man management skills lacking in pretty much every England captain since Brearley and the ability to get disparate personalities pulling together in a common cause. It is this skill that Smith has not mastered. He has been guilty of allowing cliques to develop, of not running an inclusive squad. Then again, he has had to put up with an absurd quota system. It's hard to bond a team when not everyone has been selected on merit alone.

But as captains, there is one key difference that marks Vaughan out as the more successful. Whilst both have won roughly half of their Test matches as captain, Vaughan is the only one with a series victory over Australia to his name. Time and again, the Aussies have ruthlessly crushed South African hopes and Smith personally has been scarred by the experience. His batting average against Australia is a feeble twenty-two.

This summer could be the last time these two face one another as skippers. Vaughan's slow batting decline, his age and his battered body make it unlikely he will be in charge come the 2009/10 tour to South Africa. Smith's contract is up next spring and last year he admitted that criticism of his tactical inflexibility and poor man-management had got to him. But if he does bow out, he will want to go with a bang. A series against a faltering Australia at the end of the year could be his last chance to defeat the old enemy. And his team are finally looking the part. Their batting is solid and, in Dale Steyn, they have a genuinely scary quick bowler. Meanwhile England must sharpen their edge for next year's Ashes. England versus South Africa 2008 promises to be cracker.

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