Tuesday, 11th November 2008

Vaughan joins Bresnan and Rashid on tour

Former England captain Michael Vaughan will be part of the England Performance Programme in India. Michael, who was awarded a 12-month central contract in September but not included in the Test squad to tour India, will be part of a 17-man party including Yorkshire's Adil Rashid and Tim Bresnan.

The squad will fly to Bangalore on November 21 where they will play a three-day match before moving onto Mumbai for a four-day game. They will train with the England Test squad on December 17 and 18 before flying home a day later.

Vaughan has not played for England since resigning the Test captaincy in August and was prescribed a break from the game following the conclusion of the domestic season. The near month-long tour of India will give the batsman a chance to stake his claim for a place on the Test tour of West Indies in the new year.

England captain Kevin Pietersen said: “It's good because it gives us strength in depth to have a guy like that around with his experience. He's coming back into the fold now and has his head back on - and he's willing to do whatever it takes to get back into the England team, which is great."