Vaughan gets benefit of TV umpire and goes on to score 177

MICHAEL VAUGHAN benefited from the hard nosed approach of modern cricket to continue his prolific year for England and provide Australian audiences with evidence of real competition during the remainder of the Ashes series.

Had Vaughan elected to follow the spirit of cricket to the letter, he would have walked after driving Andy Bichel low to Justin Langer in the gully for only 19 and England would have suffered a damaging early loss on the opening day of the second Test at the Adelaide Oval.

Instead, he followed the modern practice of allowing the umpire to refer to TV official Steve Davis, who was unconvinced about the legality of the catch, and after five minutes of studying replays he ruled Vaughan was not out which allowed him to score 177 and guide England to a promising 295 for four at the close.