London, Apr. 22 : Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has said that he is as hungry as ever to return to top flight cricket.

Anyone who thought Vaughan would be consumed by regret and self-doubt since tearfully resigning from the England captaincy last summer, needs to think again.

Talking in the sunshine of the Harris Garden behind the most famous pavilion in cricket publicising innovative attempts to fuse art and sport with his ‘Artballing’ venture, Vaughan looked lean, tanned and well, reports the Daily Express.

He said that his competitive instincts are far from dulled and that he is as hungry as ever.

“I just want to get back to being me again,” he had said of a happy-go-lucky personality he felt was buckling under the demands of the role.

But having spent an energetic winter “pounding the streets” and getting back to basics with Yorkshire – basics he has not touched, he admitted, since the days of his emergence in 1988 – the re-connection to self seems complete. Moreover, he feels ready to play another role in a series that has provided the highest peaks of his career.

“I’m desperate to get back to play in the Ashes – I want that more than anything,” he said.

“But it is not going to kill me if I don’t. I am enjoying my cricket and enjoying being back with Yorkshire, so much so that whatever happens I will continue to play next summer as well.”

“I feel fitter than I have for many years and although I don’t feel that I have a huge amount to prove, this will be a good test this week against the best bowling attack in the country,” he said. “If I go out and score 100 it’s a little knock on the door,” Vaughan said. (ANI)