Why I’ve turned to woo-woo medicine

Michael Vaughan has been through hell, twice. The first time was well publicised. On thin grounds, the former England cricket captain was accused of racism and was then subjected to a brutal investigation by cricket’s overlords. Defending himself valiantly, he was exonerated. The second circle of awfulness, though, was just as bad – he became seriously ill. Last week, he talked to the Telegraph about the horrific symptoms that suddenly reared up, and of his search for a cure.

The crisis came when, at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, he was so weak, in such terrible pain, that he couldn’t pick up the microphone; he’d already noticed that he couldn’t summon the strength to do up his shoelaces or the buttons on his shirt. A sensible colleague sent him to hospital, and thus began a series of medical tests that showed, not MS or Parkinson’s or leukaemia, as you might fear in such a situation – but a serious inflammatory condition brought on by stress.