Vaughan out of form, but he will still get a central contract

Michael Vaughan will on Tuesday be handed an England lifeline when he is awarded a central contract that keeps him in the frame for the winter tours of India and West Indies and for next summer’s Ashes showdown.

The support of new captain Kevin Pietersen for his predecessor, allied to the desire for experienced competition for England’s top six, means Vaughan will be handed one of the 12 year-long deals even though he has averaged just 9.6 for Yorkshire since resigning as England skipper.

The news will come as a relief to England’s most successful captain, who is desperate to follow former skippers Mike Atherton, Alec Stewart and Nasser Hussain by prolonging his Test career after giving up high office.

Lifeline: the former captain could oust Strauss

The financial aspect of his selection will also not have escaped Vaughan, with central contracts worth a minimum of £100,000 per year and potentially a lot more.

Pietersen has become very close to Vaughan over the past year or so and would welcome his return. And the new captain will never be in as strong a position again as he is now, after winning his first Test in charge and then thrashing South Africa 4-0 in the one-day series.

Vaughan’s best chance of winning back his England place will come if Andrew Strauss fails to make an impact in two Tests in India before Christmas.

England’s show of faith comes at a time when Vaughan’s future with Yorkshire is uncertain and he was said to be unimpressed with Geoffrey Boycott’s criticism of him around the time he resigned as England captain. At 34, he could become the hottest property on the county market this winter.

Stuart Broad will receive his first 12-month contract in place of Matthew Hoggard, with England again seemingly reluctant to hand a wicketkeeper a full deal, replicating their position of this time last year.

Matt Prior may have to be content with one of the supplementary part-time contracts part-funded by the counties that will also go to other one-day stalwarts including Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara.

England will on Tuesday also name the players with a chance of earning £500,000 each for winning a Twenty20 match against the Stanford Super Stars in Antigua on November 1.

Steve Harmison, who made a shock return to one-day cricket at Pietersen’s instigation against South Africa, has been reassured that he has a legitimate claim to be part of the squad even though he showed an initial reluctance to gatecrash the lucrative party.

Harmison will therefore be named in a squad that will include only one wicketkeeper, Prior, with Tim Ambrose looking set to miss out completely.

The only player sweating on his Antigua cash is Ryan Sidebottom, who will go as long as he convinces England that he is fully fit after suffering numerous injury problems.

Tim Bresnan is likely to stand by in case Sidebottom does not make it ahead of Chris Tremlett, who is losing support within the England set-up because he does not appear to have the mental toughness to succeed at the highest level.

Probable full 12-month central contracts: Pietersen, Strauss, Cook, Bell, Collingwood, Flintoff, Vaughan, Broad, Sidebottom, Anderson, Panesar, Harmison.

Probable squad for Antigua T20 plus India one-day series: Pietersen, Bell, Prior, Shah, Flintoff, Collingwood, Patel, Wright, Broad, Anderson, Harmison, Sidebottom (or Bresnan), Bopara, Cook, Swann.