Cricket story by sport.co.uk, Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:53:40 GMT



Michael Vaughan has confirmed his retirement from cricket at the age of 34. The announcement was widely expected as the former England captain has been plagued by a knee injury for a number of years, although he had soldiered on in a bid to be selected for this summer's Ashes squad.Yet after he was ditched in favour of Ravi Bopara, Vaughan announced he would be retiring from all forms of first-class cricket, although he leaves the game with the honour of being England's most successful ever captain, having led them to 26 wins from his 51 Tests in charge.



The highlight of his five year tenure as captain of his country was undoubtedly the 2005 Ashes, when Vaughan led England to a 2-1 series victory over Australia.



But Vaughan said he was certain he had made the right decision to retire this summer.



"After a great deal of consideration, I've decided that now is the right time to retire from cricket," he said.


"It has been an enormous privilege to have played for and captained my country and this is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make.


"Having played almost non-stop for sixteen seasons, I feel that the time is right for the focus to shift to the next generation.


"We have some fantastic talent coming through the English counties and, with the next Ashes series upon us, now is the time for the younger players to rise to the challenge of building on the success achieved in English cricket in the last few years.


"I'd like to record my sincere thanks to the England fans and the ECB and the members and supporters of Yorkshire County Cricket Club for their unstinting backing throughout my career as well as my wife Nicola and the rest of my family who have been equally supportive.


"I'm also extremely grateful to all of the players, managers, coaches, media and administrators I've worked with, who have all contributed to making my career so enjoyable and fulfilling.


"I'd also like to wish Andrew Strauss and the current England team success in this Ashes series. I know they have the drive, ambition and abilities to repeat the success from 2005. Winning that series was most definitely the highpoint of my career."