Cricket: Vaughan tells England party has to stop

LONDON - England captain Michael Vaughan has told his team the Ashes party must finally stop and instructed his players to concentrate on their demanding tour of Pakistan.

"It is important we get back to playing cricket and preparing well for this tour," Vaughan told a news conference on the eve of the team's departure for the sub-continent.

"We've had six weeks since the Ashes, which has been a bit of a roller coaster, and all the players now want to get a ball or a bat in the hand and play cricket."

Vaughan said life had changed for the England team after their Ashes triumph over Australia this year.

"We have to make sure we get back to doing what we do best and that is playing cricket," he said.

"The guys have to be up for the job because, as great as it is to relive the Ashes, you always have to look to your next challenge and that is Pakistan.

"The conditions are different to what we've played in here and South Africa and the West Indies. I guess this is the toughest challenge because we've got a lot of players going here for the first time.

"Hopefully we'll get our plans right and have a successful tour by doing exactly what we did in the summer, which was a lot of hard work and playing some good cricket."

- REUTERS