By Oliver Brett
BBC Sport at Old Trafford |
The jinx has been broken. After two Ashes Tests with no individual three-figure scores, the first day at Old Trafford yielded a gem of a century.
 | MICHAEL VAUGHAN FACTFILE Born: 29/10/74 Test debut: v South Africa, Johannesburg 1999 Test record v Australia: Four centuries (177, 145, 183, 166) from 15 innings (average 55.4) |
To the blessed relief of home fans, it went to an Englishman - and not just any Englishman but to the captain, Michael Vaughan.
On Wednesday, Vaughan had been asked about his poor form going into the most important Test of his two years as England captain.
His response was a curious one.
"When you are playing well and batting well that kind of form has to come to an end," he explained.
"So when you get a run of low scores that also has to come to an end."
Taken at face value, those comments did not seem terribly convincing.
In the second innings at Edgbaston he had been bowled by Brett Lee to complete his fourth disappointing score in four Ashes innings.
He had twice been bowled by seamers at Lord's - so he knew his defensive technique around middle and off stump was sure to be exposed early on at Old Trafford.
When he stepped to the wicket at 1115 BST, the pressure sat squarely on his shoulders.
At that point, Andrew Strauss had just been bowled by an absolute pearler from Brett Lee, and England had just 26 runs on the board.
Glenn McGrath had unexpectedly passed a fitness test and was bowling magnificently - he had already had Marcus Trescothick dropped.
But from the early stages of his innings, Vaughan's footwork was far more assertive than we had seen in the first two Tests and it was clear he had made important adjustments to his technique.
Crucially, he was rarely marooned on the crease and soon looked a confident batsman again.
Then, as the sun came out, the ball lost its shine and McGrath tired, things gradually became easier and it was time for the England captain to showcase his abilities.
 Jason Gillespie came in for plenty of punishment from Vaughan |
A shot that kept coming up was the back-foot force through the covers. McGrath and Jason Gillespie were both despatched for boundaries in this manner.
Vaughan had hit five boundaries just off Gillespie by lunch, including one dismissive square cut, to race to 41 off 49 balls.
Just after the interval, he had a double let-off in as many balls from McGrath and made the Aussies pay as he cruised past fifty.
He still had to negotiate Shane Warne when Ponting turned to the final ace in his pack, and Vaughan was up to the challenge.
One early attacking shot off the leg-spinner was a classic of its type - a shot played late off the back foot, going with the spin and hit just in front of square on the off-side.
Soon he was playing Warne - on the ground which had yielded the Australian 17 wickets in two Tests - as well as Graham Gooch in his prime.
Having safely reached his century, the sight of Gillespie beginning a new spell was like finding a golden wrapper inside one of Willy Wonka's chocolate bars.
Suddenly liberated, Vaughan hooked him for one sublime six and added a string boundaries.
The crowd lapped it all up, having long since forgotten that the England captain plays for the county on the other side of the Pennines.
Finally he got himself out against the part-time spin of Simon Katich. It was an indiscretion, but by then we could forgive him that.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Good innings from Vaughan - a few lucky breaks but I'm sure all batsmen have had them in an innings like that
