Cricket: Vaughan feared series was over

BIRMINGHAM, England - England captain Michael Vaughan feared his elbow injury had ended his Ashes cricket campaign before the second test at Edgbaston.

Vaughan proved his fitness with a 25-minute session in the nets today after he had painkilling injections to numb the pain caused by a blow to his right elbow from paceman Chris Tremlett during batting practice yesterday.

Vaughan said he would play tomorrow and bat at No.3, although he admitted he had feared he had broken his arm.

"It's still a bit sore but I'm fine to play," he said.

"When I couldn't feel my arm because of the nerve, I thought the worst, that it was a break.

"A lot of emotion goes through yourself because you think you're not only going to miss this game but you're going to miss a lot of cricket.

"I didn't want to do that, but as soon as the scan came through (revealing) there was no break I knew that I'd be fine because you can easily release a little bit of a nerve - you can inject it, which they did - so I'm delighted to say I'm fit."

Having now proven his fitness, Vaughan must now fight off Glenn McGrath to drag his side back into the series from 1-0 down.

Australia wants to keep the screws on the England skipper, who was bowled twice, for three and four, in the first Test defeat at Lord's and hope the pressure sifts through the England team.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said McGrath, after nine wickets at Lord's, would keep the pressure on.

"Glenn just asks the batsmen a question every time," Ponting said.

"He's got the ball in and around off stump and batsmen are thinking 'Am I going to play, am I going to leave, am I going to drive it, am I going to defend it?'

"Michael has got pretty big initial movements and the way Glenn bowls fits in well to combat those movements, so if Glenn's not on when Michael comes to the crease, he won't be far away from coming back on."

But Vaughan rejected Australian claims McGrath enjoyed bowling to him.

"I wouldn't say I don't fancy facing him, I thought he bowled well at Lord's but I've had quite a lot of success against them in the past," he said, referring to his man of the series award in 2002-03.

Australia hopes to attack England's spirit, which took a battering after the first Test defeat.

There are only two scheduled days' break between the second Test and third, at Old Trafford, meaning for all the build-up England's Ashes challenge could be kaput within a fortnight.

Spinner Ashley Giles led the counter-attack against England's newspaper critics after the Lord's loss, and the Australians sense the weight of public expectation might already be too much.

Ponting believed his side could use the local media as an ally to keep the pressure on.

"For sure ... the anticipation and build-up to this series was huge and the expectations on the England team were pretty high as well, and they didn't live up to those in the first game," Ponting said.

"We've got to make sure that we're doing everything to make sure they don't do it again next test."

Australian coach John Buchanan declared his side in front of England both literally and psychologically, as it would handle better the potential mental and physical fatigue caused by 10 days of cricket over the next 12 days.

Successive matches will be crucial for building momentum, although England is conscious of not overbowling strike bowlers Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff.

"Back-to-backs are always difficult for the bowlers and if it goes five days and we win it, it's a good thing," Vaughan said.

"We're looking forward to two hard weeks ... we want to try and win here and take the momentum into the Old Trafford game."

Australia is certain to play the same XI at Edgbaston.

England will decide between Giles and Paul Collingwood's medium pace tomorrow, after a final look at a wicket that could play some tricks after the recent rain in Birmingham.

- AAP