Oval Test, Day 1
Thursday, September 5, 2002 That was a fantastic innings from Michael Vaughan, and a really good day for England – it's not often you can say that a day's play has been virtually perfect, but today that was the case. The likes of Atherton and myself have been singing Vaughan's praises ever since he arrived in the side – he's always been a class act, and he's stylish with it as well. He's taken his chances, and now that's he's got a taste for runs, long may it continue.

His knee problem has been well documented, but he doesn't need any surgery at this particular moment. The danger is, if it locks up, he will be out for six to nine months, and he is now such a crucial part of the side that we will probably look to rest him during the ICC tournament, in the hope that he can get through the rest of the winter, and next year. It's a risk, but at the moment he's fine.

The stakes before this match were pretty high, but we were relaxed in the dressing-room. We talked about what went wrong at Headingley, and we aimed to pick virtually the same side to put things right – so far we've had one good day, but we now need to carry on for the next few as well.

I had no qualms about throwing Marcus Trescothick straight back in after his injury. He's another class act, and one of four or five batters – the two openers, Butch, myself – who have had great years. Once we knew he was back to fitness, he was always going to get runs. The opening partnership is in good hands.

I'm the type of guy who gets ready from ball one and watches every delivery, so by a quarter to five, I was mentally knackered, and just thought, "Enough is enough!" John [Crawley] was kind enough to take over from me for half-an-hour, and Sod's Law, a wicket fell in that time. But he went in and carried on the good work.

It was a crucial toss to win, but I reckon it'll stay a good wicket for another three or four days. I'd say we were well ahead of the game if the wicket was going to deteriorate rapidly in the next couple of days, but I doubt that'll be the case. There was something for the spinners – a hole from Zaheer's boot where he had churned the surface a bit, which Vaughany might be able to exploit, and something similar outside Ganguly's off stump. But this wicket isn't going to become your standard Oval dustbowl, so there's no way this game is safe yet. We need another good day tomorrow before we can think along those lines.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Andrew Miller. His thoughts will appear on Wisden.com, other duties permitting, at the end of each day of England's international cricket this summer.

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