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.

Vaughan’s performance was all the more remarkable considering he needed treatment from physio Kirk Russell before the start after feeling discomfort in his right knee, which was operated on last September and caused him to miss the first three matches of the tour, and also suffered a painful blow to his shoulder from fast bowler Jason Gillespie.

But It was his reluctance to accept Langer’s view of the incident which gave England the drive and determination to bounce back from their 384-run first Test hammering in Brisbane. Another poor opening day at the Oval and even the most optimistic of Australian cricket fans would have been sceptical about the tourists’ ability to even compete, let alone beat, Steve Waugh’s side.

Since the International Cricket Council allowed umpires to refer disputed catches to TV replays, an increasing number of batsmen have allowed technology to decide their fate, knowing that most pictures are inconclusive at best.

Ironically, Langer benefited from exactly the same referral rule a couple of years ago when he edged Courtney Walsh to Brian Lara at slip during the Sydney Test but the pictures were inconclusive and allowed him to escape.

With tempers raised by the incident, relations in the middle were not improved by Bichel claiming a caught and bowled off Marcus Trescothick which clearly bounced in front of him.

Trescothick fell chopping Glenn McGrath onto his stumps and Robert Key, promoted up the order after Mark Butcher contracted a migraine having been selected as a replacement for the injured John Crawley, fell to a freak catch by Ricky Ponting at silly mid-off to give Shane Warne his first wicket.

While team-mates fell at the other end, Vaughan demonstrated increasing dominance over the Australian attack, pulling Bichel for six and hitting Warne for two boundaries in his first over of the day.

With Hussain delivering an equally aggressive innings, the pair forged a 140-run partnership spanning 42 overs which threatened to take England into a far more commanding position by the close.

Instead, Hussain edged Warne behind and Vaughan fell just three balls before the finish after recording the highest score by an England batsman in an overseas Ashes Test since Mike Denness hit 188 in Melbourne in 1974-75.

‘‘It was very disappointing to get out three balls from the end, but if I’d been told I was going to score 177 at the start of the day, I’d have taken it,’’ added Vaughan.