CRICKET: Michael Vaughan benefited from the hard-nosed approach of modern cricket to 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 and 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, 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 to bounce back from their 384-run first Test hammering in Brisbane.

Vaughan was given the opportunity to play his memorable innings largely because of captain Nasser Hussain's second successive winning toss - only this time, he took local advice at a ground where no side has lost a Test batting first since 1965-66.

Australia became increasingly frustrated at their failure to make more of a breakthrough, which was only inflamed by Vaughan's refusal to walk.

"At first, I thought I was gone, but there was a suspicion in my mind that the ball had touched the ground and that's why I stood my ground," said Vaughan. "If you ask any batsman in our team or any batsman in their team, they'd have done exactly the same.

"It's probably a little sad that cricket's like that, but batting's a tough game and there's going to be days when you get given out when you're not out.

"If I got away with it, I got away with it, but the cameras suggested the ball touched the ground."

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.

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, fell to a freak catch by Ricky Ponting at silly mid-off to give Shane Warne his first wicket.

While team-mates fell, 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 equally aggressive, 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.

Second Test - Australia v England

(Adelaide)

England First Innings

M E Trescothick b McGrath 35

M P Vaughan c Warne b Bichel 177

R W T Key c Ponting b Warne 1

N Hussain c Gilchrist b Warne 47

M A Butcher not out 22

Extras lb6 nb7 pens 0 13

Total 4 wkts (89.3 overs) ... 295

Fall: 1-88; 2-106; 3-246; 4-295

To Bat: A J Stewart, C White, R K J Dawson, A R Caddick, M J Hoggard, S J Harmison.

Bowling: McGrath 21 7 62 1; Gillespie 20 5 68 0; Bichel 16.3 1 67 1; Warne 27 7 83 2; S R Waugh 5 1 9 0.