Romeo
14 May 2006, 22:55
Crickethttp://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/grey.gifhttp://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/trans.gif
The Times
Vaughan's wounded knee saga takes new turn for worse
By Pat Gibson
http://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/trans.gifMICHAEL VAUGHAN, the England captain, could only watch in envy and frustration yesterday as his batsmen piled on the runs in the first Test against Sri Lanka after revealing that he had suffered yet another setback in his battle to recover from an operation on his right knee during the winter.
Vaughan had been hoping to play for Yorkshire in their Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy match against Northamptonshire at Northampton on Sunday but he has again been forced to admit defeat — just as he did before the Test series in India in February.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/images/white.gifNI_MPU('middle');The saga is making his knee almost as famous as Denis Compton’s was when he was keeping the nation on tenterhooks half a century ago and part of that finished up in the Lord’s museum. Vaughan has not got to that stage yet but it is now hard to see him playing in the remaining two Tests against Sri Lanka and there must be some concern about whether he will be fit for the start of the Pakistan series on July 13.
“It’s progressing but it’s slow progress at the moment,” he said.
“Rehabilitation on a knee which has been a problem for a while must be right. That’s what we’ve been trying to do — tick all the right boxes so that when I play I will play with confidence and the movement required at the top level.
“It is frustrating that I can bat in the nets but not in the middle. There is a lot of twisting and turning and, at the speed that is required in cricket these days, I need to make sure I have ticked all those boxes on the training ground to give myself as much confidence as I can.”
Vaughan, who had already endured two operations on the knee, damaged it again in Pakistan in November. He struggled through the last two Tests before having a third operation in December. He then expected to play a full part in the India tour but returned home without playing in a Test.
“The India tour came too quickly after the operation,” he said. “We didn’t give ourselves enough time. Now I have got to be patient because when I do come back I want it to be for a long time.
“It is very difficult to put a timespan on it. The bare fact is that there is a little bit of bone inside the knee which has created a little hole. That needs time to recover and smooth out. Until that happens, it is very difficult to play. “The last thing I need and everyone else needs is to see a limping Michael Vaughan like we did in Pakistan. There is damage in there but the specialists have told me that I will get better over time. With all the training I have been doing, I have actually got muscles on my legs for the first time.”
The Times
Vaughan's wounded knee saga takes new turn for worse
By Pat Gibson
http://images.thetimes.co.uk/images/trans.gifMICHAEL VAUGHAN, the England captain, could only watch in envy and frustration yesterday as his batsmen piled on the runs in the first Test against Sri Lanka after revealing that he had suffered yet another setback in his battle to recover from an operation on his right knee during the winter.
Vaughan had been hoping to play for Yorkshire in their Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy match against Northamptonshire at Northampton on Sunday but he has again been forced to admit defeat — just as he did before the Test series in India in February.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/images/white.gifNI_MPU('middle');The saga is making his knee almost as famous as Denis Compton’s was when he was keeping the nation on tenterhooks half a century ago and part of that finished up in the Lord’s museum. Vaughan has not got to that stage yet but it is now hard to see him playing in the remaining two Tests against Sri Lanka and there must be some concern about whether he will be fit for the start of the Pakistan series on July 13.
“It’s progressing but it’s slow progress at the moment,” he said.
“Rehabilitation on a knee which has been a problem for a while must be right. That’s what we’ve been trying to do — tick all the right boxes so that when I play I will play with confidence and the movement required at the top level.
“It is frustrating that I can bat in the nets but not in the middle. There is a lot of twisting and turning and, at the speed that is required in cricket these days, I need to make sure I have ticked all those boxes on the training ground to give myself as much confidence as I can.”
Vaughan, who had already endured two operations on the knee, damaged it again in Pakistan in November. He struggled through the last two Tests before having a third operation in December. He then expected to play a full part in the India tour but returned home without playing in a Test.
“The India tour came too quickly after the operation,” he said. “We didn’t give ourselves enough time. Now I have got to be patient because when I do come back I want it to be for a long time.
“It is very difficult to put a timespan on it. The bare fact is that there is a little bit of bone inside the knee which has created a little hole. That needs time to recover and smooth out. Until that happens, it is very difficult to play. “The last thing I need and everyone else needs is to see a limping Michael Vaughan like we did in Pakistan. There is damage in there but the specialists have told me that I will get better over time. With all the training I have been doing, I have actually got muscles on my legs for the first time.”