Vaughan's emergence is good news for England

"But you can't do any more than score runs against the opposition you're facing and he's done that pretty well."

England will arrive in Australia in mid-October and have warm-up games against Western Warriors and the Queensland Bulls prior to the first Test in Brisbane, which begins on 7 November.

"I think they've got a good solid batting side and the pace bowling looks pretty good. There's no reason why it won't be a good competitive series," said Waugh.

"Matthew Hoggard looks like he's improved a lot. We haven't played against him, so maybe the younger guys will hold the key."

Waugh's own involvement in the Ashes series may depend on his performance against Pakistan next month - a Test series to be played at neutral venues in Sharjah and Sri Lanka.

He has an excellent record against England but has already been left out of the Australian one-day side and there are several younger batsmen pressing for a chance in Test cricket.

"I'd assume I'm going to play the first Test in Colombo, hopefully make some runs and then have a good summer (in Australia)," he said.

"It's just a question of me getting out there and posting some big scores."