Graveney allays Vaughan fears

Michael Vaughan: his delayed recovery from injury is 'worrying' © Getty Images Enlarge

David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, has played down speculation about Michael Vaughan's future in international cricket, after a report in The Mail on Sunday claimed that some camp insiders were doubtful whether he would be fit to play again.

Vaughan, England's captain, has not played since the tour of Pakistan in December, where his troublesome right knee locked up during a warm-up match in Lahore. He flew home ahead of the one-day series and was passed fit to lead the side to India in February, only for the knee to give way again in practice.

Graveney , however, was not among that number. "I've seen him batting in the nets so things are going in the right direction," he told BBC Five Live. "I've given up ringing him and asking how he is because he has to do that conversation thousands of times a day," he added. "But it's progressing. It's probably taking longer than people wanted it to but it's the right thing in terms of the bigger picture to show a bit of caution at this time."

One man who is less convinced by the positive vibes, however, Geoff Boycott, Vaughan's fellow Yorkshireman and the former opening batsman, who told the BBC he was "worried" by the length of time Vaughan has taken to regain fitness.

"You'd expect the selectors to be upbeat and you can put as much spin on it as you want but it is worrying," he said. "No one wants to write off his career - he's 31 and in his prime, but he hasn't completed a game since the tour of Pakistan, which is getting on for five or six months now."

Boycott added that it was essential for England to get Vaughan back to fitness before the Ashes, because he rates him as the best captain in international cricket. "He has a knack of being inventive and sussing out the opposition, and he isn't afraid to place fielders in unusual positions.

"Vaughan's good at making things happen, changing bowlers around, and on top of all that seems to command - in a quiet but firm manner - the respect of everybody around him."