It was as if Headingley had hardly happened. The sun shone, the ball didn't swing. On an Oval pitch that started soft but soon hardened up, and which should spin more as the match goes on, England batted like a dream. A fifth 500-plus total of the summer is a distinct possibility. The dreamer in chief was Michael Vaughan, who batted with cool composure to collect his fourth Test hundred of the summer, a number only four Englishmen (and one little Aussie legend) had previously managed. The nearest Vaughan came to wiping his brow was when he slid his bat home a millimetre or two in advance of a widish return from mid-off. A straighter throw would have sent him on his way.

Vaughan's emergence as Mr Dependable has meant that England have barely noticed the retirement last year of Mike Atherton, the previous incumbent. There are similarities between the two that stretch beyond a calm temperament and a Manchester birthplace. But even Atherton wasn't often seen skipping down the track to Anil Kumble, taking the ball on the full and flashing it through midwicket for four, as Vaughan did twice in one over. There were press-box musings about the last person to subject Kumble to such indignity: Javed Miandad was the popular choice. "Mind you," said someone, "Javed would go down the pitch to Dennis Lillee if he felt like it."

Vaughan played second fiddle for a while, as Marcus Trescothick made a reassuring return to Test cricket. But when Trescothick top-edged a hook, Vaughan took over, his cover-driving scorching the square and making the Indians misfield. Inevitably, on a bad day for India in the field, Vaughan's hundred came courtesy of another fumble.

Mark Butcher played his part as Vaughan blossomed. Butcher's 54, in a stand of 174, included some clunking drives and cuts of his own. But it was Vaughan's day and, if the weather holds, it should be game, set and series to England.

Steven Lynch is database director of Wisden.com.

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