England batsman Michael Vaughan knows that there's a lot of hard work to be done in the next few weeks if he is to regain his place for the First Test against Sri Lanka starting in Galle on February 22.

Michael Vaughan Photo CricInfo

The 26-year-old Yorkshire right-hander is desperate to add to his eight caps and improve on his top score of 76, but knows that England's success in Pakistan – where he missed the Tests because of a calf injury – will make it doubly hard for him to force his way back into the side.

"The boys did exceptionally well in Pakistan and, at the minute, I'm not in the team," said Vaughan. "But the first three weeks [of the tour] are going to be crucial for someone like me to stake a claim, and to do that I'm going to have to score a few runs."

Vaughan's injury was particularly cruel because he was close to establishing himself as one of the mainstays of the middle order - all he needed to do was turn his 30s and 40s into centuries. Now he has to battle his way back in a country not renowned for offering visiting batsmen too many presents – especially as, by his own admission, he's relatively inexperienced against spin.

"I've never really played too much against spin. At Yorkshire, where we play on green seaming wickets, we don't tend to get much spin. At the likes of Old Trafford and Chelmsford, I've always done reasonably well against spin but I've never faced a world-class bowler like a Muralitharan or a Saqlain or a Shane Warne in a Test Match, so we'll have to wait and see."

Despite being out of the side for those Tests in Pakistan, Vaughan, like his colleagues, is bubbling over with the confidence the series victory – and the two previous ones against the West Indies and Zimbabwe – gave to the team. And although Sri Lanka have a formidable home record in recent years, he believes England have every chance of maintaining their winning run.

He said: "If we can come away from Sri Lanka with a similar result [to Pakistan] we'll all be delighted.

"Winning games at any level gains confidence within a team and with individuals. England have just won three series on the trot, so if we can just continue the progress, keep building, keep trying to play consistent cricket and get some runs on the board to give our bowlers something to bowl at, we can compete with the best."

But he's refusing to underestimate the opposition. "With their batting, which is very flamboyant, they can dominate you and they've got some decent left-arm swing bowlers," he said. "And every time Sri Lanka bowl, Muralitharan seems to take six or seven wickets so if we can combat him it will go a long way to winning the series."

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