Vaughan: England Need New Coach

Michael Vaughan says England should appoint a permanent successor to Peter Moores as soon as possible to allow Andrew Strauss the chance to form a long-term partnership as he seeks to bed in as the captain. Andy Flower, the assistant coach, is supervising the current tour of the Caribbean following the sacking of Moores and has admitted he may be interested in taking the senior post, to be known as the team director. But Vaughan believes any appointment has to take place sooner rather than later.

"It's not a huge problem right now, but it would help the stability of the side if they knew who was going to be coach in the long term," said Vaughan, the England captain until last summer. "Andy Flower is a good man and he and Andrew Strauss form a good combination, but it's important for the team's stability that the situation is put to bed quickly because Strauss needs to be able to establish a partnership for the long-term."

Vaughan, who resigned the captaincy in August after 51 Tests in charge, said Strauss "has the right temperament and attributes to be England captain for a long time", before explaining how he has spent the winter trying to recapture the form that deserted him while he was averaging only eight against South Africa last summer.

"I've studied a lot of videos from last summer," he told Sky Sports. "I wasn't great mentally, because I was exhausted, but I think I've ironed one or two technical hiccups and hit loads of balls in the nets. They say golfers need to hit 3,000 balls to make a change. Well, I must have hit about 30,000 in the last two weeks. I've been hitting them well, the mind's in great shape and the bat's coming down straight."

At the age of 34 and with 82 Tests behind him, Vaughan was categorical about his international ambitions. "Hopefully I can get Yorkshire off to a good start and try to get my England place back," he said. "I love playing against Australia, and I've had a lot of success against them as a player and a captain.

"I'm older now and people might say I'm past my best, but I don't see that. I don't feel I have much to prove to anyone – only to myself. I'd love to play against Australia at Headingley, my home ground, which is something I've never done before. I'd love to play in all the Ashes Tests, of course, but my one target is to play in that."

Vaughan averages almost 48 in 20 Test innings against Australia and has four hundreds on his Ashes CV, but the century he made against New Zealand at Lord's last May was his only score of more than 50 in his most recent 14 Test innings. His attempts to regain form before Christmas, meanwhile, ended when the terrorist attacks in Mumbai caused the Lions tour of India to be canceled.

Predictably, perhaps, he failed to back categorically any of his potential rivals for the No3 slot, where he has scored six of his 18 Test centuries. "It's hard for Ravi Bopara to bat at No3, and although Owais Shah is a wonderful player, maybe No4 or 5 is best for him. Perhaps England should move Kevin Pietersen there – he's their best player. But it's all about playing guys in the position that's best for the team."