Vaughan is back to lead England after painful 18 months

Eighteen months of heartache and hard work will come to an end this morning here when Michael Vaughan captains England in the second npower Test against the West Indies. It was in Pakistan on 3 December 2005, and with his side still basking in the afterglow of an Ashes victory, that Vaughan last walked off a cricket field wearing whites for England.

Vaughan has admitted that there were many occasions when he feared the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore would be the scene of his final international match, but the chronic knee condition that threatened his career eased enough for him to play in England's one-day side in Australia and then at the World Cup. It is, weather permitting, the next five days that provide him with the ultimate test.

Much has changed since Vaughan last played a Test for England. The Ashes have been relinquished, the team has a new coach and Stephen Harmison is no longer the most feared bowler in the world. When Vaughan raised the little urn at the Oval in September 2005 his position was impregnable but he arrives at Leeds today beset by suggestions that he is receiving preferential treatment.

In previous years the selectors have stipulated that an injured player would need to play a game for his county before being considered. Andrew Flintoff will have to bowl in next week's Championship match with Lancashire before England contemplate playing him again but Vaughan, who missed the first Test at Lord's with a broken finger, will be there batting at No 3 after a week of gradually more intensive net practice.

"I am the England captain and I have made myself available for selection," said an indignant Vaughan when asked about this point. "Surely that is a positive thing. I want to play cricket.

"In an ideal world I would have liked to have had a four-day game behind me, but that is not the case. I have put myself up for selection, been selected and I am looking forward to going out there and doing well. Hopefully at the end of the week we will be 1-0 up.

"I expect there to be a few more nerves than usual. There are nerves on the first morning of every Test, and especially when you have had a little bit of a break like I have. I feel like I am starting again but it is good to be back and I am very excited about it.

"You are always under pressure when you play international cricket and that is what I live for and why I want to play this week. I know that I need some runs but I am pretty confident that I can get a few. It will be like a new beginning but I do have a lot of fond memories to fall back on."

The withdrawal of Flintoff on Wednesday due to his ongoing ankle problem leaves Vaughan and Peter Moores, the England coach, with one decision to make this morning. Had Flintoff been fit a batsman would have had to be omitted, but Matthew Hoggard's thigh strain leaves James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom competing for the final place in the side. Sidebottom is probably the more consistent bowler of the two but Anderson seems set to make the starting XI.

"Choosing between Jimmy and Ryan will be a tough decision," admitted Vaughan. "They both seem to be bowling pretty well. Ryan, bowling left-arm swing offers us a different option, something we have not seen for a while, whilst Jimmy has the potential to bowl great away swing.

"The ground has offered reverse-swing for Yorkshire this summer and Jimmy's threat with that could be key."

England will be hoping that whoever they pick bowls with greater accuracy than at Lord's. Headingley is noted for the assistance it gives seam and swing bowlers but the slope makes it a hard place to bowl. A small playing surface means that if you get it wrong as a bowler you can disappear around the ground, too.

But England will be encouraged by the fact that the pitch now encourages spinners. Monty Panesar took six wickets here against Pakistan a year ago and he was England's best bowler at Lord's. The West Indies did not pick a specialist spinner in their touring party and are expected to field the same XI as in the first Test.

Ramnaresh Sarwan's side have promised to try and get after Panesar in an attempt to disrupt his rhythm. "I think it is important we are positive against Panesar," said Sarwan. "In the first Test he was quite new to most of us. He did not get many wickets with the turning ball, it was his arm ball that brought him success. We will be using the bat more than the pad.

"We are in better shape for here than the first Test. Obviously there was a lot of talk about us not having much match practice before Lord's but we have come on a long way in the last week. We were competitive in the first Test and showed some sort of fight, and that is something that has been lacking in us for some time now."

England (probable): M P Vaughan (c), A J Strauss, A N Cook, K P Pietersen, P D Collingwood, I R Bell, M J Prior, L E Plunkett, S J Harmison, M S Panesar, J Anderson.

West Indies (probable): R R Sarwan (c), C H Gayle, D Ganga, DS Smith, S.Chanderpaul, R S Morton, D J Bravo, D Ramdin, D B Powell, J E Taylor, C D Collymore.

Weather and TV

Weather There will be plenty of cloud cover but with sunny spells. Temperatures will reach 17C.

Television Live: 10.30-19.00, Sky Sports 1

Highlights: 10-15-12.15, Sky Sports 1; 19.15-20.00, Five

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