By Tom Fordyce BBC Sport Online

Michael Vaughan's century in the deciding Test at The Oval put England into a strong position against India.

It also put him on par with some of the greatest players on cricketing history.

Vaughan has now scored four Test hundreds this summer, an achievement that only five other men have matched.

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Herbert Sutcliffe

A name that has particular resonance for Vaughan.

Sutcliffe hit two centuries at the Oval in 1929

Sutcliffe, along with Len Hutton and Geoff Boycott, is part of the holy trinity of Yorkshire and England openers who scored 100 first-class hundreds.

Vaughan's form this summer would make any of those three men proud.

Sutcliffe's own golden summer came in 1929 and also featured a century at the Oval.

He took 114 off the South African attack in the first Test at Edgbaston and made exactly 100 in the second Test at Lord's.

At the Oval he was dominant, hitting 104 in the first innings and 109 not out in the second.

Don Bradman

Bradman's form in the summer of 1930 eclipsed even that of Sutcliffe the year before.

Bradman's golden summer came in 1930

In a series of innings that will probably never be matched, Bradman faced the best England could offer and took them to the cleaners.

131 in the first Test was followed by 254 at Lord's - a mere clearing of the throat for his magnificent 334 in the third Test at Headingley.

On the first day at Leeds alone he scored 309 runs, a figure that has never been beaten.

He closed with 232 in the final Test at the Oval, having made 974 runs in the series at an average of 139.

Denis Compton

The hugely-talented Compton enjoyed his greatest summer just two years after the end of the Second World War.

Compton pulverised the South African attack

South Africa were once again on the receiving end, just as they had been when Sutcliffe set his record.

Compton made 163 in the first Test, hit 208 at Lord's and 115 in the third Test at Headingley.

And just as Bradman and Sutcliffe had done before him, he completed the set with 113 at the Oval.

Allan Lamb

Lamb's achievements deserve particular credit for the fact that his centuries were made against the great West Indian pace attack of Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding, with Eldine Baptiste in support.

Lamb was England's sole batting success in the summer of 1984

No other England batsman came to terms with those four that summer - but Lamb took three tons off them as England suffered a 5-0 series thumping.

At Lord's he made 110, Headingley exactly 100 and then, with help from brave Paul Terry, 100 not out at Old Trafford.

Terry had had his arm broken by Marshall while batting but returned to the crease in plaster and a sling to keep Lamb company until he reached three figures.

Lamb completed his set with 107 in the one-off Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's.

Graham Gooch

Gooch: Front-runner

In 1990, Gooch, like Vaughan this year, enjoyed pulverising the Indian tourists.

That summer England played New Zealand in a three-Test series before taking on India.

Gooch hit 154 against the Kiwis at Edgbaston before making his famous double of 333 and 123 against India at Lord's.

He followed that with 116 in the second Test at Old Trafford as he led from the front in classic captain's style.