England is hopeful Michael Vaughan will be ready for the second Test against Sri Lanka in a fortnight despite the captain still not having a date set for his comeback..jpg)
Yorkshire's director of cricket David Byas has insisted Vaughan will not make a premature return from a knee injury, quashing speculation that the England captain would play for the country in Wednesday's game against Kent.
"Michael won't be playing. That's absolute eyewash," Byas told BBC Sport.
"Quite when he's going to be back, I'm not sure. I can only say he's making progress. The most important thing is not to rush things."
"He's worked very hard to get where he is - captain of England - and he's a mature, professional cricketer. He's not going to throw that away."
Vaughan had knee surgery in December but was still dogged by the injury in February, forcing him to fly home early from the tour of India.
Acting England captain Andrew Flintoff said he was happy to remain at the helm until Vaughan returned.
"I'm just keeping his job warm until he comes back. I had a chance to do it in the winter, which was great, and I'm doing it this week," he said.
"If Vaughany comes back for the second Test, fantastic. I'll be more than happy to give it back to him."
England and Sri Lanka will play a three-Test series starting on Thursday before playing five one-day internationals.
