Former England skipper Michael Vaughan will hold a press conference today when he is expected to confirm his retirement.

Vaughan's future has been the subject of speculation since he was left out of England's 16-man Ashes training squad last week.

The 34-year-old, who memorably led England to victory over Australia four years ago, had hoped to feature in the side attempting to regain the urn this summer.

But he has been unable to reclaim his place since stepping down as skipper last year and his form for county side Yorkshire this season has not warranted inclusion.

Reports that Vaughan's retirement could be imminent started to emerge on Saturday night and the news was given credence when the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed an announcement would be made on Tuesday.

"Vaughan belongs to Brearley's league"

Vaughan met with Yorkshire officials to discuss the matter on Sunday morning but is centrally contracted by the ECB and still has issues to resolve with the governing body.

Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan said: "Without going over old ground, Michael had set his stall on being picked for the Ashes Tests.

"That was what we and Michael were focused on. We agreed with the ECB we would give Michael every opportunity to get selected for the Ashes squad.

"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 and a press conference will be held on Tuesday."

That media conference will take place at Edgbaston against the backdrop of an England Ashes warm-up match against Warwickshire.

Ignored again

Vaughan had hoped to be part of that England side but, after missing series against India and the West Indies, he has scored just 147 runs in seven County Championship innings for Yorkshire.

That run might even have put his Yorkshire place in jeopardy but he was omitted from this afternoon's Twenty20 Cup match against Derbyshire at Headingley as a direct result of the speculation.

Yorkshire were bidding to secure a place in the top division of next season's potentially lucrative P20 competition and did not want any off-field distractions.

Regan added: "As far as the club is concerned today is an important match for us and we can't have any disruption or lack of focus on what needs to be achieved on the field.

"The plan was for him to play but given the news we discussed the situation and felt all the hype and speculation going on wouldn't have been in the team's interests."

That decision means Vaughan has probably now played his last game of cricket at the top level.

Time to bid adieu

After making an immediate impression on debut in 1999, Vaughan went on to play 82 Tests for England, scoring 5,719 runs and 18 centuries.

His form on the 2002-03 Ashes tour, when he scored three hundreds, catapulted him to the top of the world rankings and his temperament made him an ideal successor to Nasser Hussain as captain.

He will be best remembered for masterminding the 2005 Ashes win but his form since has been intermittent due to knee problems.

He stepped down from the one-day captaincy after a dismal World Cup campaign in 2007 and his Test tenure came to an inglorious end after losing to South Africa last summer.

He said he was keen to carry on as a batsman as he announced his resignation at an emotional press conference but his lack of runs appears to have hastened a retirement decision.