Vaughan expected to announce retirement

Cricket: Former England captain Michael Vaughan is expected to announce his retirement on Tuesday.

Cricket:Former England captain Michael Vaughan is expected to announce his retirement on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old's future has been the subject of speculation since he was left out of England's 16-man Ashes training squad last week.

Reports this morning claimed an announcement was imminent and the England and Wales Cricket Board have now confirmed a press conference will be held at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

England are due to take on Warwickshire in an Ashes warm-up match at that ground the following day.

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Vaughan had hoped to be a member of the England team for that game but he has been unable to regain his place since stepping down as captain last summer.

He did not feature on the winter tours to India and the West Indies and his county form this season has been below par.

Vaughan has scored just 147 runs in seven County Championship innings and in the meantime Ravi Bopara has established himself as England's number three.

It was thought Vaughan might make an announcement after Yorkshire's Twenty20 Cup clash against Derbyshire at Headingley Carnegie this afternoon.

The matter is complicated, however, by the fact Vaughan is centrally contracted by the ECB.

As a result of the speculation Vaughan was left out by Yorkshire, who did not want any distractions as they looked to secure a place in the top division of next season's P20 competition.

That decision means Vaughan now looks to have played his final game of competitive cricket at the top level.

Vaughan was still at Headingley on Sunday as he met with club officials to discuss his future.

He was unwilling to speak himself but Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan said: "Michael is employed by the ECB so he is unable to comment until after he has spoken to them and formalised the situation.

"As far as the club is concerned this is an important match for us and we can't have any disruption or lack of focus on what needs to be achieved on the field.

"Both Michael and the club felt it was in both of our interests for him not to play.

"The plan was for him to play but given the news we discussed the situation and felt all the hype and speculation going on wouldn't have been in the team's interests."