Vaughan Heads for Old Trafford With Bouncy Ideas

Michael Vaughan preferred to look forward rather than back last night after a combination of Jacob Oram's hard-hit century, bad weather and squandered opportunities condemned England to a fifth successive draw at Lord's, a venue which lost its reputation as a haven for touring teams under the reign of Duncan Fletcher but is now threatening to turn into a no-man's land.

"We were only 80 behind when Oram walked to the crease," the England captain said. "We had a couple of chances but we didn't take them: something special was going to have to happen. This is going to be a tough series but we're confident going up to Old Trafford, which has been good for us in the past couple of years."

If Lord's seems to have stopped producing results altogether - Vaughan bemoaned the "early-season weather" - then England have won four of their past five Tests in Manchester, and were denied a full house only when Australia's last pair held on for 24 balls to salvage a draw three years ago.

Monty Panesar has taken 18 wickets in his two Tests there, moreover, and Vaughan, perhaps mindful of New Zealand's struggles against South Africa on lively pitches in Johannesburg and Centurion in November, did not miss the chance to point out the conditions likely to prevail from Friday. "It will be a quick, bouncy wicket," he said. "It always is and it's a good pitch to bowl short stuff on. We're very confident that if we can produce another good performance, we can take a 1-0 lead."

Vaughan's bravura could not disguise the fact that New Zealand will head north the happier. "When I played there a few years ago it was a slow dust bowl, so it's certainly turned round and the England guys have mentioned a couple of times that it's got a bit of pace in it," said his opposite number, Daniel Vettori, man of the match for his 48 and a five-wicket haul. "In a lot of ways we're excited by that. I know our fast bowlers would be. It's another challenge and when you go around the world, there's no recipe for wickets any more. The good players adapt and the good teams win in any situation."