Vaughan could play in England tour match

Michael Vaughan has made a slow start to his comeback after a knee injury © Getty Images

Michael Vaughan continued to struggle for runs in his return to cricket today, amid speculation he could line up with his England team-mates in a tour match against Western Australia on Saturday. Vaughan was out for nine for the ECB National Academy in their game against the Western Australia Second XI at Perth.

But there were some better signs for Vaughan, who batted for almost 40 minutes in his second innings since returning from a knee injury and later fielded for 50 overs. He faced 21 balls and struck one boundary through the leg side before spooning a catch to mid on. A week ago, he made a seven-ball duck for the academy in his first game back.

David Parsons, one of the Academy coaching staff, said: "I don't think his batting is an issue. He's looked really sharp in the nets and I think he is feeling pretty good. He'd have liked to spend a little bit longer at the crease today, but I think he is feeling in pretty good shape at the moment."

Speculation has been rife all tour that Vaughan was being lined up for a comeback in the latter stages of the Ashes campaign, and Duncan Fletcher didn't entirely rule out the possibility that he, or one of his academy colleagues, could come into the reckoning at Perth. "I'd say it's unlikely," he told reporters in Adelaide this morning. "We picked the side to come on this tour and we've got to stand by those players, but we want to see how Vaughan comes out of today's match."

The Independent reported that Vaughan was likely to line up for England in their two-day tour match against Western Australia at the WACA this weekend. Vaughan had been expected to play for Bayswater-Morley in Perth grade cricket on the weekend but the club's coach David Baird told the paper otherwise. "I was told he would not be playing for us because he would probably be playing for England," Baird told the newspaper.

Vaughan has been ruled out of Friday's festival match at Lilac Hill as a precaution, because it was feared that four days of cricket in five would be too much of a strain on his knee at this stage of his recuperation.