Cricket story by Dominic Taylor, Sat, 21 Jan 2006 06:04:00 GMT


LONDON - England captain Michael Vaughan has sought to allay the fears of his fans that he would not be fit for the Indian tour by saying that he was on the road to recovery and would lead the England team to the tour in February-March.

"The knee is good and it's gone quite well since the operation four weeks ago," he said. "I'm doing everything bar being on the cricket pitch twisting and turning. I'm doing a bit of running indoors and unless I have some real bad luck I expect to be on the plane in a few weeks' time."

He added that the problem was with the cartilage and that it was trimmed during the surgical procedure. Vaughan had aggravated a knee injury while on tour to Pakistan and had to return home mid-way through the tour. He underwent a surgery just before Christmas and said that he would be fighting fit by February 12, when the team leaves for India.

England were soundly beaten in Pakistan and Vaughan knows that they will surely face much the same conditions in India, "Going to Pakistan or India, with different conditions, and it's very tough for a team. Only Australia have won in India over the last decade," he said. "So even if Pakistan didn't go well and India doesn't go well, we will still be a good team going to Australia. I'm hoping we can go to India and put up a good fight and maybe surprise them because they'll be big favorites."

England are slated to play three tests and a one-day series in India. The tour has already run into rough whether with the ECB unhappy with the choice of certain venues in India.

More Sporting Stuff