Vaughan, 34, was in charge of England for 51 of his 82 Tests and England won 26 and lost 11, making him statistically the best captain the country ever had.

Despite still being centrally contracted by the ECB, Vaughan (pictured celebrating a century at Headingley in 2007 after coming back from career-threatening knee surgery) was left out of England's 16-man pre-Ashes squad named last week, prompting his decision to retire from the sport.

“It was a very difficult decision because playing cricket has been my life for 16 or 17 years so to hand it over and to know I won’t be playing cricket any more is hard,” Vaughan said at a media conference at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

“A 16-man squad has to be made up of the 16 best players in the country and I haven’t been playing well enough to be in the best 16.

“And I felt I wasn’t passing on the enthusiasm to the younger players at Yorkshire and they need that hope to go on and try to represent their country.

“It was always going to be a long shot to get back in. And the last thing the team needed in the Ashes was me scoring a century for Yorkshire and having all the media pushing my case again. The guys there now need every chance to be able to express themselves.”

Vaughan topped the world Test batting rankings in 2003 after touring Australia and scoring three centuries against the likes of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath in 2002-03. He made 177 on the first day of the second test in Adelaide, 183 in Sydney and 145 in Melbourne.

In July 2003 Vaughan took over the England captaincy from Nasser Hussain, beginning what was to become the most successful reign of an England skipper with a 2-2 home draw with South Africa despite his own lack of form with the bat.

Vaughan led by example in Sri Lanka later that year when he batted for seven-and-a-half hours to score 105, his first Test century as captain and an innings that enabled England to save the second Test in Kandy.

He then led England to their first series victory in the West Indies for 30 years, but the moment that defined his captaincy of England came in 2005 when he outsmarted opposite number Ricky Ponting to win back the Ashes.

“The Ashes in 2005 was very, very special but the build-up to that in the two years before was just as special because we had to make the team into a winning unit,” he said, referring to how England won eight Tests consecutively in 2004. “Australia in 2005 was the pinnacle.”

He added: “I want to be remembered as someone who gave my all, who left everything out there.

“Someone who was hopefully a nice player to watch, and when I was captain I wanted my team to be determined and aggressive and who enjoyed their cricket, which is how I played when I was at my best. I will miss the camaraderie in the changing room but the enthusiasm was just starting to go.”
 
Regarding his next step, Vaughan confirmed that he has not yet made any certain plans contrary to media talk linking him to a commentary role with Sky Sports.

“The talk is that I am going straight into the commentary box but I haven’t had any offers yet, but my phone is on,” Vaughan said.

“The only job offer I have had was from (golfer) Lee Westwood who has asked me to carry his bag at Loch Lomond next week. So if I don’t hear anything I will be wondering whether he needs a pitching wedge or a sand iron!”