AUSTRALIA: CRICKET - Michael Vaughan to resume role as English captain for series in Australia

Vaughan missed England's 5-0 drubbing by Australia because of a knee injury but was installed as skipper for the upcoming limited-overs series with the world champions and New Zealand after passing a fitness test. Andrew Flintoff had captained England in the 32-year-old Vaughan's absence. Vaughan said he was pleased to return as captain for the team. "It's a good feeling to be back playing, it's great to be on the squad and an added bonus to be reinstated English cricket captain..... what I have now is two and a half years experience in the job so I feel in good experience to captain", he said. Vaughan also said he was confident his knee injury would get better before the world cup games. "I'm very confident that I'll get through them. I think the more games I play the stronger the knee, and the stronger I'll become so it is a little bit of a build-up to the world cup so I'll use the minimum amount of these games in Australia to make sure that I'm really fully focussed and get my game in order to make sure we hit that world cup strong", he said. Vaughan, who captained England to their shock Ashes series win in 2005, said the players needed to accept they had played poorly in the Ashes and move on to the next challenge. Vaughan said one of his most important tasks was to help all-rounder Flintoff rediscover his form. Flintoff struggled during the Ashes after being handed the captaincy and Vaughan said he hoped he would return to his best after being freed of the extra responsibility. Chairman of the England selectors, David Graveney, said Andrew Flintoff had done a good as captain but that the player had always seen the job as a fill in role. "It's a tough job and it's a very tough job and I can only applaud him for the efforts he's brought to the job. He has stated on various occasions that he saw his role as being a stand-in (until) and when Michael was going to be fit", he said. The World Cup in West Indies takes place in March and April.

ITN Source | January 8, 2007

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