Vaughan wants to be in Down Under to help team

London, Sep 10 (UNI) Michael Vaughan wants to be in Australia throughout England's defence of the Ashes won under his leadership last year to help out the captain and young players, even though he is almost certain to play no part and will not be included in the 16-man squad to be named on Tuesday.

Vaughan, who underwent an operation on his right knee nine weeks ago, plans to fly out the week before the first Test in Brisbane starting on November 23 and is also targeting a return to action in club cricket in Perth.

''I have every confidence that whoever they pick will do a good job. They probably need a bit of my experience of captaining against Australia, but I think they'll be fine. I may be more help to the younger players, who are there for first time. I'll be there if they want a coffee. Whoever gets the captaincy will do okay.

''It's been a bad time for the team. Leadership is crucial. If you keep changing leader, it's difficult for the side to know which way to react to situations. I think the same man has to lead for the Champions Trophy and the Ashes,'' Vaughan told Sunday Times.

He has not either given up hope of playing in the fourth and fifth Tests or in the one-dayers.

''There's a realistic chance I'll be on a plane on November 17 and do 10 days of training around the first Test. I won't train with the team because it's important they just get on with it but I hope to use the likes of Matthew Maynard, the trainer and physio.

''Hopefully I'll play some cricket in December. I'll have to do that if I want to be available to play the one-day series (starting in January). If things go incredibly well, there's a small chance I could play in the end of the Ashes, though if it's 1-1 with two to play, I can't see them saying 'have a game' when I won't have played for 12 months,'' Vaughan said.

''I won't go in and say, 'I've won the Ashes, listen to me', but I'm there to speak to anyone if they need advice,'' he added.

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