Michael Vaughan factfile

1974: Born in Eccles, Manchester, on October 29.

1993: Makes Yorkshire debut and is voted the Cricket Society's most promising young cricketer.

1995: Awarded county cap.

1999-2000: Makes his Test debut for England against South Africa at Johannesburg.

2000-01: Tours with England in Pakistan and Sri Lanka but plays in just one Test - the series decider in Colombo - because of a calf strain.

2001: Hits his maiden Test century in the Old Trafford Test defeat to Pakistan. Helps his county win their first Championship title for 33 years. However, a knee injury rules him out of the entire Ashes summer.

2002: Makes 115 in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's. Misses the ICC Champions Trophy to have an operation on his troublesome knee.

2002-03: Returns in time to be fit for the start of the Ashes series and makes 177 on the first day of the second Test at Adelaide and adds another century at Melbourne, 145, his sixth of an amazing year.

2003: May 6 - Named captain of England's one-day team.

July 28: Appointed new England Test captain after Nasser Hussain steps down.

November 14 - Scores 105 over seven-and-a-half hours and 333 balls to help England save the second Test against Sri Lanka in Kandy. His monumental innings was his 10th Test century and his first as captain.

2004: Victory within three days secures England's first Test series win in the Caribbean for over 30 years as an eight-wicket success in Barbados wraps up the series. July-August - Whitewash of West Indies in four-Test series.

2005: September - Vaughan leads England to historic 2-1 Ashes series win with a rain-affected draw in the fifth Test, thanks to centuries from South Africa-born duo Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen.

November 7 - Injures knee and retires hurt on day two of the second tour match against Pakistan A, which England lose by six wickets.

2006: February 27 - Having been cleared to lead England on the tour to India, Vaughan is ruled out of the first Test and returns home from Nagpur after a recurrence of his knee injury.

March 2 - Ruled out of entire series against India following a visit to his specialist.

May 29 - Returns to action in Yorkshire's C&G Trophy game against Scotland, scoring 67. Comeback too late to feature in either Test or one-day series against Sri Lanka.

June 29 - Told he needs a fourth operation on his knee, ruling him out for four to six months.

July 29 - Admits he "might never play again".

November 29 - Made a playing return for an Academy team against a Western Australia XI in Perth, coming through a spell in the field unscathed before making a seven-ball duck.

December 21 - Selected in the one-day squad for the triangular series with Australia and New Zealand.

2007: January 6 - Named captain for the triangular series.

January 17 - Ruled out of triangular series match against Australia after tearing his left hamstring in a match against New Zealand.

April - Returns to captain England at the World Cup, but a series of unconvincing displays from the team and Vaughan individually culminate in elimination at the Super Eight stage.

May - Suffers broken finger batting for Yorkshire. Expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks, making him a doubt for the start of the Test series against West Indies.

May 25 - After missing first Test, he returns for the second, scoring his first Test century for almost two years.

June 11 - Becomes England's most successful captain in terms of wins with 60-run victory over West Indies in the third npower Test at Old Trafford to wrap up the four-match series 2-0.

June 18 - Stands down as captain of England's one-day side with immediate effect.

August 13 - England lose their first home Test series since 2001 at the hands of India.

September - Named in ICC's Test team of the year.

2008: January - England lose Test series in Sri Lanka to relinquish second place in the ICC Test rankings.

February-March - First overseas Test series win for England in three years in New Zealand.

May-June - Black Caps defeated once again at home.

July-August - England lose two of the first three Tests against South Africa to suffer a home series defeat for the second summer in succession. Vaughan struggles badly with an average of just eight.

August 3 - Announces he is to step down as captain.