THEY share the same position in the order, possess a similarly flourishing batting style and lead their sides with an identically unquenchable will to win. In Michael Vaughan and Ricky Ponting, England and Australia can boast captains with plenty in common.

The pair have led their sides to unprecedented levels of success since assuming their respective positions but, by the end of the summer, one will find his reputation tarnished.

Previous successes will not be forgotten, but they will certainly lose some of their lustre if the Ashes go astray.

For Vaughan, defeat would deflate the bubble of optimism that has enveloped English cricket since he replaced Nasser Hussain.

For Ponting, defeat would see him go down in infamy as the man who ended Australia's 18-year stranglehold on the famous urn. For both men, failure this summer would be taken personally.

Since taking over the captaincy at the start of the 2003 season, Vaughan has led the England side along unashamedly Antipodean lines.

Whereas previous teams had been a collection of individuals, Vaughan's England is a tightly-bonded unit where the health of the whole is prioritised over the whims of the parts.

A continuity in selection has led to a continuity of results, with England brushing aside the West Indies, New Zealand and South Africa with an efficiency and disdain that would have made any Australian proud.

"Graham Thorpe came up to me after the Wanderers Test (in South Africa) and said that playing for England now is incredible," said Vaughan, who became the first visiting batsman to top 600 runs in a series for 32 years when he travelled to Australia in 2002.

"All people think about is winning the game and not about who's getting the runs or wickets.

"At the Wanderers, he got nought and one and said he's never felt so happy, whereas he reckons once if he'd done that and England had won, he'd have gone back and sulked for five hours. That was a hugely positive comment for me."

It is also the type of comment one expects to come out of an Australian mouth.

Ponting was indoctrinated into the Australian tradition of sticking together through thick and thin from the moment he muscled his way into the Test team in 1995. In the ten years since, there has not been much thin.

The Tasmanian was named one-day captain in 2002 - less than 12 months later he was lifting the World Cup above his head - and acceded to the Test crown when Steve Waugh retired in early 2004.

Like Vaughan, Ponting was lucky enough to inherit a side who had already learnt how to win.

And, like his English counterpart, the Australian skipper has looked to continue his side's progress.

"I said one thing when I took over the job," said Ponting, who played no more than a bit-part role during Australia's record-breaking series win in India last winter because of injury.

"I said I wanted everyone, especially people on the outside watching the game, not to notice any difference in our team, not to know there's been a different captain out there.

"I wanted there to be a really smooth transition. I watched how Steve (Waugh) and Mark Taylor before him had started. I still think we can improve and we'll certainly be giving it every shot to ensure we do."

Given everything that has happened in the last week, that improvement might be needed to keep Ponting in a job.

Former skipper Ian Chappell was already criticising Ponting's leadership style before last weekend's back-to-back defeats, labelling him a "conservative leader" who was averse to taking risks.

Now, Ponting is being openly ridiculed in his homeland as the man who lost to Bangladesh.

The 30-year-old has suffered a slump in batting form since taking over the captaincy and, more damningly, has been accused of burying his head in the sand when his side twice imploded in catastrophic fashion last weekend.

"It's something I don't think too much about," he said in relation to the negative comments emanating from his homeland.

"I've been to England before with a point to prove. I came through in the end, but I was skating on thin ice for a while."

Ponting was referring to the Ashes series of 2001, in which his elevation to number three in the order caused much raising of eyebrows and gnashing of teeth back at home.

Ironically, Vaughan finds himself in exactly the same position this time around.

The Yorkshireman averaged 49.70 in the 31 Tests in which he opened the batting.

Last season, batting at number four, he averaged just 30.75 and in one-day internationals he averages even less than that and is yet to make it into three figures.

With Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss established at the top of the order, Vaughan will come in at number three this summer as he struggles to find a spot to call his own.

"It's not a massive change," he claimed when the reshuffle was announced.

"I'll do whatever is best for the team."

Ponting claimed the same when he found himself in the number three slot four years ago.

His response was a series of sensational batting performances that helped Australia retain the Ashes in less than ten days.

Vaughan has mirrored Ponting in almost everything he has done since.

England fans will be hoping he takes another leaf out of the Aussie's book during this summer's tussles.