Former England captain Michael Vaughan is to hold a media conference on Tuesday, with British media forecasting that the 34-year-old batsman will announce his retirement from the game. Vaughan, who has captained England to more Test wins than anyone else, including the victorious Ashes series against Australia in 2005, has been plagued by right knee injuries in recent years. Last week he was left out of a 16-man training squad for this year's Ashes, having struggled to find form for Yorkshire in the county championship – scoring just 147 runs in seven first class innings this season. Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan said on Sunday: “Without going over old ground, Michael had set his stall on being picked for the Ashes Tests ... When that didn't happen I think it then opened up a different set of thought processes over what happens next. “He will discuss his future with his employers tomorrow and a press conference will be held on Tuesday.” Vaughan was England's captain in 51 of his 82 Tests, winning 26 of them. But he hasn't played international cricket since relinquishing the captaincy in 2008, having made his England debut against South Africa in November, 1999. He has scored 5,719 runs in Test cricket and 1,982 in 86 One-Day Internationals. Symonds denies reports Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds says he is not an alcoholic but has blamed binge drinking for poor behavior that caused him to run afoul of cricket authorities in Australia. “I'm not proud of the times that I've drunk too much and been rude to someone or broken team rules,” Symonds said in an interview with the Nine Network's 60 Minutes television program Sunday. “Now I'm out of that environment, that won't happen anymore for those people in that team and for me.” Cricket Australia this month withdrew its one-year contract offer to Symonds, a week after the 34-year-old veteran was sent home from England and the Twenty20 World Cup following another alcohol-related indiscretion. Media reports said Symonds had gone to a bar, without telling team management, to celebrate Queensland's win in the rugby league State-of-Origin series opener. Symonds helped Deccan Chargers win the second edition of the IPL last month in South Africa. With an IPL annual contract worth more than $1.3 million – paid on a prorata basis for matches played – he is one of the highest-paid players in the league. Last September, Symonds was ordered to undergo counseling after being expelled from the squad for going fishing instead of attending a team meeting ahead of a limited-overs series against Bangladesh. “I'd go out and drink too much, too fast,” Symonds told 60 Minutes. “I'm not an alcoholic. I've been diagnosed as a binge drinker.”
