The 31-year-old Vaughan, who has not played for England since the second Test against Pakistan in Lahore [Images] in December, was cautious about the improvement in his knee but shrugged off previous reports his career may be over.

"The last stage of the rehab will be to get out on the pitch, batting and bowling, and I hope to do that in December," Vaughan said in the Independent newspaper.

"Then I have to ask the selectors 'Can I play again?'" Vaughan, who captained England to their first Ashes series win for 18 years in 2005, said he had definitely ruled out any hope of playing in the five Ashes Tests starting in Brisbane on Nov. 23.

"I cannot think about playing any part in the Ashes," said Vaughan, who is taking a break from his rehab regime to play in the Dunhill Links Championship pro-am golf tournament at St Andrews, Scotland this week.

"The more realistic goal is the one-dayers that follow. There is a lot of rehab still to go. There are a lot of hurdles to get over. But I hope over the next few weeks I will pick up a bat and start batting.

"I've done some straight-line running, but it is the twisting and turning which will be the tough one."

England play Australia and New Zealand [Images] four times each in the round-robin stages of a tri-nations series starting on Jan. 12, when they take on the hosts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. (Writing by Miles Evans in Melbourne)