Michael Vaughan has confirmed his retirement from all forms of cricket.

The 34-year-old, who led England to an Ashes series victory in 2005, had been hoping to regain form and fitness in time to face Australia this summer.

However, having stuggled with Yorkshire in county cricket this season, Vaughan accepted the inevitable.

He said: "After a great deal of consideration, I've decided that now is the right time to retire from cricket.

"It has been an enormous privilege to have played for and captained my country and this is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make.

"Having played almost non-stop for 16 seasons, I feel the time is right for the focus to shift to the next generation."

He added: "We have some fantastic talent coming through the English counties and, with the next Ashes series upon us, now is the time for the younger players to rise to the challenge of building on the success achieved in English cricket in the last few years."

Reflecting on the backing he has had throughout his career, Vaughan continued: "I'd like to record my sincere thanks to the England fans and the ECB and the members and supporters of Yorkshire County Cricket Club for their unstinting backing throughout my career, as well as my wife Nicola and the rest of my family who have been equally supportive.

"I'm also extremely grateful to all the players, managers, coaches, media and administrators I've worked with, who have all contributed to making my career so enjoyable and fulfilling.

"I'd also like to wish Andrew Strauss and the current England team success in this Ashes series. I know they have the drive, ambition and abilities to repeat the success from 2005. Winning that series was most definitely the high point of my career."

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