Physio insists Vaughan on target

Wayne Morton, the Yorkshire team physio assisting Michael Vaughan, expressed his disappointment at the timing of Geoffrey Boycott's recent remarks, questioning the speed of Vaughan's recovery from a knee injury. Morton insisted that Boycott should have kept himself updated with the latest developments first before giving his own solutions.

Boycott, writing in his column for BBC Sport, was anxious about Vaughan recovering in time for the Ashes series in November, and suggested that he travel to USA and consult Dr Richard Steadman to speed up his recovery. Steadman had worked with professional footballers like Alan Shearer and Henrik Larrson in the past and Boycott was surprised that Vaughan didn't follow suit.

Morton countered that Vaughan was working extremely hard at his fitness and making good progress, and such negative comments were inappropriate at this time.

"I wish Geoffrey had taken the trouble to phone myself or Michael to find out the situation," Morton told BBC Sport. "Michael is ahead of schedule for where we want him to be and working extremely hard on his recovery programme. It's extremely difficult to rehabilitate players with long-term injuries in the public eye and there are bound to be setbacks along the way."

He added: "I'm disappointed with Geoffrey's remarks because he has just joined the Yorkshire committee and should know better than this. Negative talk can only be upsetting for Michael at a time when he needs to be focusing solely on getting himself right."

Vaughan has been out of competitive cricket since pulling out of the tour of India in February, and is expected to miss the entire ongoing home series against Sri Lanka. He has been participating in practice sessions with the Yorkshire and England teams and is hopeful of being fit to face Pakistan in the second half of the summer.