Vaughan was 'shut out' during Ashes

Michael Vaughan faces the media during England's poor World Cup campaign © Getty Images

Michael Vaughan has accused the England management of freezing him out of the Ashes dressing-room last winter, and that his offers to share his experience with the team were rebuffed.

In an interview with The Guardian, Vaughan, who was in Australia with the England Academy side for the early stages of the tour, said: "I was never involved at all in the Ashes and I think we could have used me more. I'm an Ashes-winning captain with a huge amount of knowledge on a lot of things and I wasn't used at all. It was made clear that I was to be kept away from the team, and I understood the reason, but there were times when I think I could have helped."

Although Vaughan did not mention Duncan Fletcher by name, the implication that he was at the heart of the decision to sideline him was evident. Vaughan, who misses the first Test at Lord's with a broken finger, also made clear that he was looking forward to working with Peter Moores, Fletcher's successor. "Obviously this is the start of a new regime and I think it's crucial that I'm around just to get a feel for the new regime and the way it works."

And he explained that the 0-5 drubbing in Australia and the poor World Cup campaign may have dulled the appetite of some players. "When you get beat so heavily, losing every session, every day - losing, losing, losing - then it's got to have an effect. I don't know any team that stays together when you are getting battered.

You talk about the wheels coming off ... they'd fallen off at one point

"Then we went to the World Cup ... didn't start well, incidents happened, we really struggled and the coach went. The formula of the team started to get a little bit disgruntled. You talk about the wheels coming off ... they'd fallen off at one point. It's down to us to make sure we get those wheels back on and the only way we'll do that is by getting together as a team, working hard and enjoying the game."

As for his own future, he said he was keen to carry on leading both Test and one-day sides. "It would be easy for me to sit here and say, 'Right, you lot have got to me', but I'm going to actually try and fight, take a few people on and see if I can prove a few people wrong. If I can I'll be happy, if I can't I'll say, 'You lot were right', but at the minute I'm quite happy to have a fight. I really have a passion to try and play and my body feels fine. As long as I continue to go in the gym and get my leg stretch right, do the stretching, get in the pool, do the ice, I'll be fine.

"At the minute I'm desperate to do the work and play as much cricket as I can. I'd love to play for England for a few more years because I feel I've got a lot to offer."

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