IF England fail to recapture The Ashes, Michael Vaughan will be haunted forever by the most bizarre moment of the series.

It came when Ricky Ponting, fed up with his Pie Chuckers United attack, transformed himself from match-saving batsman into demon bowler.
At Old Trafford, it was his Captain Courageous performance with the bat which earned his side a draw to keep it at 1-1.

But yesterday, to howls of derision from the Trent Bridge crowd, he brought himself into the Australian attack, just as Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen were taking a stranglehold.
Both had been dropped in the field, Australian heads were starting to go down and England were a commanding 196-3. It was a last desperate throw of the dice.

Unplayable

Ponting, though, ignored the jeers which grew in volume as he produced a weird exhibition of his little-seen Dibbley Dobbers. Most of it was unplayable – simply because Vaughan and %Pietersen couldn’t reach ball after ball a yard outside off stump.

Then Ponting tried a bouncer at Vaughan, who swayed away from it with a wry smile. How we all laughed.
But the joke was on England when Ponting suddenly found a clever line and length, which persuaded Vaughan to push forward and edge behind.

Ponting jigged down the pitch in delight, celebrating only his fifth Test wicket and his first in Ashes combat.
Vaughan, on 58, had looked good for another century and will feel this was a wasted his chance against an attack lacking the injured Glenn McGrath. While skullcracker Shaun Tait had shown his potential with a stunning 12-ball burst after tea, this Aussie attack was there for the taking.

Their revamped pace unit sent down a flood of wide deliveries and no-balls. And Shane Warne was a forlorn bystander for most of the day.

The leg-spin magician, who had complained of a back problem in practice, was given only a handful of overs. Strange, because he quickly removed Andy Strauss, ending his seventh century stand in 18 months with fellow left-handed opener Marcus Trescothick.

That was Australia’s solitary success until two rain breaks put a dampener on England’s achievements.
Tait who loves the sight of blood when it is seeping out of batsmen’s heads, had done little to prove himself as Australia’s secret weapon, until he produced a %lethal in-swinger which beat Trescothick all ends up for 65.

Ten minutes later, he removed Ian Bell, nibbling outside off stump and edging behind for Adam Gilchrist to snaffle his 300th Test victim.
Tait, however, couldn’t keep it up.

Pietersen emerged in his customary bright and breezy mode, using his trademark wristy stroke play to hammer Tait through mid-on. And when on 14 he offered Michael Kasprowicz a sharp return chance, it was fumbled.
Vaughan also had an escape, this time in a drive off Kasprowicz to backward point where Matt Hayden tumbled clumsily forward and let it slip through his fingers.
As England approached the 200 mark, Warne stuffed his hands in his pockets at first slip and whistled.

After his early let-off, Pietersen kept his head down, refusing to take the kind of risk that brought a premature end to his Old Trafford innings, and England were on the verge of total control when Ponting struck to put the game back in the balance.

Earlier he was at a complete loss to halt a pie-throwing performance which would have done the nearby Melton Mowbray factory proud.
Tait, Kasprowicz and Brett Lee flung down 22 no-balls – 18 of them before lunch – and England powered along at five an over before Strauss top-edged a sweep off Warne.


England v Australia Trent Bridge England 1st Innings Rain

Trescothick b Tait65

Strauss c Hayden b Warne35

Vaughan c Gilchrist b Ponting58

Bell c Gilchrist b Tait3

Pietersen not out33

Flintoff not out8

Extras (lb4 w1 nb22) 27

TOTAL 4 wkts (60 overs)229

FOW: 1-105 2-137 3-146 4-213

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