Moores looking to Vaughan

Vaughan: Plenty of options

There are plenty of options for Michael to get cricket in, both with the England side if he is selected or with the Lions and performance squad.

Peter Moores
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Michael Vaughan is likely to re-join the England set-up in the New Year with a view to returning to international cricket.

Vaughan, who quit the captaincy in the summer after admitting his form was not worth a place in the side, is taking a break from the game after failing to win a spot on the upcoming tour of India.

However, the batsman was recently given a 12-month central contract by the ECB, who clearly retain faith in the Yorkshireman's abilities.

And with the Ashes series against Australia less than nine months away England coach Peter Moores re-iterated his backing for the 33-year-old with a busy winter schedule ahead.

"Michael's made it pretty public that he's had a tough time, he's had a fantastic time as captain for five years and he's now stepped away from that," Moores told Sky Sports News.

"He's taking the chance to go away and reflect, recharge the batteries before he comes back.

No baggage

"He said quite clearly that he's desperate to get back in the England side, and what I can say is that he's got no baggage from his time with England, he's been a fantastic servant and he's always been absolutely straight in everything that he's done.

"The key now is for Michael to get himself back in form, to push his case and get back in that side. I think that starts some time later this winter after he's had a chance to have some kind of break.

"The first job is for Michael to have his break, which is what he's doing at the moment. We've got a pretty full winter - we have a performance programme that runs before Christmas and an A tour that goes after Christmas.

"So there are plenty of options for Michael to get cricket in both with the England side if he is selected (for the tour of West Indies in the New Year) or with the Lions and performance squad, and his international pedigree goes without question."

Exciting times

Moores added that he is enjoying the challenge of working with new England skipper Kevin Pietersen, who replaced Vaughan as Test captain while also taking over ODI leadership duties from Paul Collingwood.

"What's nice with Kevin is that it's unified the one-day and Test match captaincy which is exciting for him and me as a coach to build that relationship," he added.

"It's early for us but very exciting because we're both coming from the same place. We both want a very fit, strong and skilful England team who are very committed every time they play.

"So we start from the same place and have those discussions to do the best we can to put the best team out that we can."