England captain likely to miss entire series

Vaughan won't be rushed back

Cricinfo staff

February 28, 2006

Vaughan: 'I certainly won't rule myself out of playing cricket again in the future' © Getty Images

"I'm very optimistic and enthusiastic about the game of cricket and I certainly won't rule myself out of playing cricket again in the future," he told Sky Sports News. "There have been better players with bigger injuries than this one that have come back. I remember Glenn McGrath a few years ago had nine or 10 months out of the game, and Shane Warne had 12 months out of the game with a shoulder injury.

"They seem to have come back pretty well, so I'm very optimistic I will play a part in the game, hopefully sooner rather than later."

Vaughan, who underwent surgery on his knee last December, added that he would take as long as necessary before resuming. "I certainly won't rush back. If it is possible in three weeks I can come back and play the one-day games I will do that, but I certainly won't do that if there's any chance I could end up like I did today.

"I knew last week in Mumbai that I was struggling because there was a recurrence and I was hoping that wasn't going to be the case. We injected on Wednesday night hoping to come to Nagpur and the injection would have worked. It hasn't and there's still the same kind of feeling in the knee."

"It's the second time in two tours that I'm going to be travelling home with an injury. This one is really similar to the one in Pakistan. It's important that I go and get it right for the team's sake as much as anything. They don't need a captain hobbling around, we need an energised captain like I was last summer.

Asked if he had tried to come back too soon, Vaughan told Sky Sports News: "I just wanted to try to give it my best shot on this tour. Unfortunately the workload has increased on this trip and the knee hasn't withstood that. It's time to go back and see the specialist, do whatever we can and make sure I come back fitter.

"The big test was always going to be on grass playing a game of cricket. That three-day game in Mumbai went well the first two days and then on the last day I just felt it again. Wearing studs on grass is the big key, the twisting and turning, the runs between the wickets, the intensity of the game was always going to be a challenge. I didn't come through that."

© Cricinfo