Former England captain Michael Vaughan has questioned Graeme Swann's timing after the bowler took a swipe at what he perceives to be rampant egos in the dressing room.

The 34-year-old spinner announced his retirement from cricket yesterday and has now courted controversy by claiming that there are players in the dressing room who are "up their own backsides".

Vaughan, who praised the Durham man following yesterday's announcement, believes that Swann should have waited before venting his feelings.

"As a respected senior player in the dressing room, why didn't you sort players out who got too big for themselves?" Vaughan wrote on Twitter.

"I agree with [Swann] that some players are getting ahead of themselves, but I don't think he should have said it the day after retiring."

Swann later said that he was not talking about any of the players in the England squad.