Refreshed Vaughan is eager for success with confident young squad

Vaughan's return as captain for the three-Test tour is akin to a teacher who has seen his pupils grow in confidence while away on a sabbatical.

He may not have 'lost' the England team led to one-day success by Paul Collingwood, but admits that something has changed.

'It does feel different,' said Vaughan before last night' s departure for Colombo. 'I'm an experienced player and the team I'm taking haven't got that much experience, but I'm just trying to do things exactly the same way as I always have done.

'I feel incredibly refreshed and very hungry for success on this tour. I was delighted with the way the team turned up for training at Loughborough because they were full of energy and a little bit of cheekiness, which hopefully we can take to Sri Lanka. The players just have a nice way about them, not an arrogance but a confidence that I like to see.'

There is a nice irony in a situation which sees Vaughan return to the Test helm after the man who took over the one-day captaincy prospered in his place.

Turn the clock back four years and it was Vaughan the successful one-day captain who handed the team back to Nasser Hussain. Soon after that, England had one captain again when Hussain decided the team had moved on without him.

Vaughan is a more naturally confident and secure character than Hussain but is experienced enough to know that the issue of the split captaincy will not go away should England struggle to improve a record of only two wins in their last seven Test series.

For now, Vaughan's position as captain is solid, as it should be, but it might only take heavy defeat in Sri Lanka for questions to be asked.

'I'm sure there will be external pressures if things don't go well but they will be just that, external,' said Vaughan. 'I'm not looking at that at all. I won't be captain for ever and it's not something I worry about.

'I'm the happiest man in the world to be sat here as captain but one day I won't be and Paul could well be the man to replace me. Hopefully, I can do the job for a while yet and I'm not losing any sleep about the day that might change.'

In truth, Collingwood, despite oneday series victories over India and in Sri Lanka, has much to learn before he can compare as a captain with Vaughan or Hussain.

Vaughan was part of the England team who came from behind to record a stunning 2-1 success in Sri Lanka under his predecessor in 2001 and captained England to a narrow 1-0 defeat there in 2003, just ahead of his side's golden spell which culminated in the 2005 Ashes triumph.

Now he knows that England must hit the ground running if they are to make an impact in the first Test a fortnight tomorrow in Kandy, a venue which could provide them with their best chance of an upset against a side bolstered considerably by the return of Muttiah Muralitharan.

Sri Lanka have lost only 10 out of 42 home Tests since 2000, but five of them have been in Murali's home city of Kandy. Even though the great man has taken more than 100 Test wickets at the Asgiriya Stadium, it traditionally offers a little more bounce and seam movement than the strongholds of Colombo and Galle.

So England will consider breaking with their policy of playing two spinners in each Test in Sri Lanka and add another fast bowler in the first Test. The bounce generated by Steve Harmison and Stuart Broad gives them every chance of inclusion. Harmison, barring injury, will be added to the party after his second game for Highveld Lions in South Africa.

'History suggest we should play two spinners but if there is one place where we won't it will be Kandy,' said Vaughan.

'We need to assess the conditions and form of the players very quickly because it is vital we get off to a good start and it could be to our advantage that we are starting in Kandy this time rather than Galle. This is one of the toughest away trips but it is also one of the most exciting and if we get our plans and strategies right, we can be successful there.'

To do that they will have to tame Murali, who went into today's second Test against Australia in Hobart just seven wickets away from overtaking Shane Warne's Test record of 708 victims. The script says Murali will break the record against England in his home town.

But Vaughan said: 'Teams who win in Sri Lanka are the ones who play Murali well and we will be looking to do that.'

If they do, the split captaincy will not seem such an issue after all.