Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan, England’s most successful Test captain, will this week announce his retirement from Test and first-class cricket.

Michael Vaughan, 34, is understood to have made his decision because his right knee makes it impossible for him to field all day and because he does not want to block the progress of some promising young batsmen in Yorkshire’s side.

When Vaughan resigned as England’s captain last August, he had led them to more Test victories than any other captain, beating the previous record of 20 wins by Peter May. He had hoped to regain his England place this summer to have another go at regaining the Ashes, as he did when leading England in 2005.

In a pre-season tournament in Abu Dhabi, Vaughan scored a century against Surrey, but the runs have refused to flow in sufficient quantity since. He has made starts in 20-over, 50-over and first-class cricket, but not another hundred.

His right knee, moreover, has prevented him from spending a complete day in the field this season. The condition flared up after the 2005 Ashes and kept him out of the England team for the sequel in Australia in 2006-7.

Vaughan played 82 Tests for England, and captained in 51 of them. He also played 86 one-day internationals, captaining in 60.

More dashing than the traditional top-order Yorkshire batsman, he hit a purple patch shortly before he took over from Nasser Hussain as England captain in 2003, and was never so prolific thereafter under the burden of captaincy. He finished with 5,719 Test runs at an average of 41 with 18 centuries.

As a captain he was renowned for keeping his cool under pressure, most notably in the 2005 series when his calmness and refusal to panic after Australia had won the opening Test at Lord’s steered England to regaining the Ashes for the first time in 20 years.

His outward calm was most valuable at Edgbaston when Australia’s last pair of Brett Lee and Mike Kasprowicz took the tourists to the brink of victory. "I was panicking like hell inside," Vaughan said later. But he did not show it, and England won by two runs. He was later awarded an OBE, and his players MBEs.

Vaughan is believed to have been so impressed by some of the county’s young batting talent — notably Jonathan Bairstow, the 19-year-old son of the former England player David, who made his debut this season – that he is reluctant to stand in their way in championship matches, but he may decide to play a few more limited-overs games for the county before the end of this season.