By Geoff Boycott Former England batsman

There has been talk in the last few days about whether England captain Michael Vaughan will ever play again because of his knee injury.

England need Vaughan back now and they definitely want him in Australia

No-one wants to write off his career - he's 31 and in his prime so nobody within the framework of the team will want to be negative, and quite rightly so.

You'd expect the selectors to be upbeat and you can put as much spin on it as you want but it is worrying.

He hasn't completed a game since the tour of Pakistan, which is getting on for five or six months now.

If you're a fast bowler banging your foot down you'd expect to have a bit of knee trouble later on in life, a bit of arthritis or something.

Even as a batsman you're twisting and turning when you're fielding so you might get some knee trouble later in life but you would not expect it at the age of 31.

Michael has had two knee operations and I would have thought he doesn't need any more.

If I were him I would see the American specialist, Richard Steadman, that Darren Gough went to see.

So many footballers - the likes of Alan Shearer, Michael Bridges, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jamie Redknapp to name but a few - have been to him.

I'm surprised somebody as intelligent as Michael hasn't done that.

It must be a worry because while it's fine saying he will be all right, time is getting on.

England need him for the Ashes - they need him back now - but they definitely want him in Australia. After all, he was the leader when we won the Ashes back.

No team likes to lose its leader, that is no reflection on Andrew Flintoff, but you don't want to lose your chief.

Sixty overs is a lot even for fit young men - I used to be tired when I bowled five!

I've said this before, but in my opinion Michael is the best captain in international cricket.

He has a knack of being inventive and sussing out the opposition, and he isn't afraid to place fielders in unusual positions.

Vaughan's good at making things happen, changing bowlers around, and on top of all that seems to command - in a quiet but firm manner - the respect of everybody around him.

While he is out of the frame, Flintoff will continue as captain and I have no problem with that.

There have been murmurings about the amount of overs he bowled at Lord's (68.3) but he's used to that.

Andrew's a big strong lad, and the same goes for Matthew Hoggard, and is brilliant at what he does.

What was tiring for them was the amount of overs they bowled on the trot.

This was one of the reasons why Steve Waugh rarely put sides back in. When you make people follow on, you're bowling continuously and England bowled for three and a third days.

That would tax anybody and take a lot out of them - 60 overs is a lot even for fit young men. I used to be tired when I bowled five!

Once you put the opposition back in you are committed, however, and it was the right thing to do but it will give him food for thought in future.

It's not a mistake, we all expected England to bowl Sri Lanka out twice, but everybody learns from experience.