Vaughan resists talking advantage

Michael Vaughan has dismissed suggestions Australia have gained a psychological advantage having staved off defeat at Old Trafford. Only a tenth-wicket stand lasting four overs between Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath kept the series at 1-1 at Manchester on Monday.

"We've been talking about psychological advantages and disadvantages throughout the whole summer," Vaughan said. "We will arrive at Trent Bridge next week fully focused and hoping to go 2-1 up. What we do know is we can take a lot out of this last game because we dominated four days of Test cricket against the number one team in the world."

However, Shane Warne told the Herald Sun England missed a big chance at Old Trafford and would have been disappointed not to be beat Australia in the final over. "They'll be thinking, 'should we have declared earlier?'," he said. "Ashley Giles won't be happy with his performance getting 0 for 90-odd on a spinner's paradise on the last day of a Test to win a game. There's a few individuals that aren't performing."

Vaughan said the team had bounced back and shown a lot of character since Lord's. "It can be hard to produce two performances on the trot of such high-intensity and high-pressure cricket but we have," he said. "I really do hope the two final games are as good as the last two because the series deserves that."

Since inheriting the Test captaincy from Steve Waugh 18 months ago, Ricky Ponting has not faced anything like the extended challenge of the past fortnight. "There are only two Tests to go so we better start getting things happening pretty quickly," he said. "I don't think there will be any personnel changes as far as the batting goes because all the guys are in good form and we have just made errors in judgment at times."