Vaughan ducks out on return

Michael Vaughan trudges off after being caught behind for a seven-ball duck © Getty Images

If England believed that their Ashes salvation lay in the miraculous pre-Christmas recovery of their injured captain, Michael Vaughan, then today's events at the South Perth Oval will have dented their optimism just a touch. Playing for the Academy side against Western Australia 2nds - his first competitive fixture since undergoing a third bout of knee surgery in May - Vaughan was dismissed for a seventh-ball duck.

News of his comeback had caused a sensation among the travelling English media, with several members making a 1300-mile detour to cover the match at an otherwise unassuming Grade Cricket ground in the suburbs of Perth. It proved an unrewarding trip. Play was held up for an hour by rain and then, after England's fielding stint got underway, it was interrupted again after 20 overs.

Vaughan did at least come through the day with his knee intact and said: "To be honest, today was all about getting back playing cricket, so it is a huge positive for me that I am back on the field.

"It is [the] early stages of a comeback, but six months ago I never thought I would get to the stage of playing cricket again and it was a really tough time. For me, it is a good day."

During play he fielded for 11 overs of Western Australia's innings, mostly at mid-on or in the slips. Western Australia were restricted to 218 in their innings, but that was soon put into context by England's woeful reply. The Academy side - from whom all further replacements for the Ashes series will be drawn - slumped to a woeful 5 for 12. Vaughan himself was caught behind by Christian Moir off an outswinger from Darren Wates, a man who managed just four wickets in six matches in the Pura Cup last season.

"Next week hopefully I'll get a few runs and spend a little bit more time in the middle," Vaughan added. "Over the next few weeks we'll be having plenty of practice, plenty of middle practice and I hope to play a full part in next Wednesday's [Academy] game.

"The real test will be when I have to spend the whole day in the field or bat for five hours, to see how the knee responds to that."

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