Laughter lifts England spirit as Vaughan defends Lord's tactics

It would have taken some time to extract a smile from Michael Vaughan on Monday evening after his side had fallen one agonising wicket short of a deserved win over India in the first Test at Lord's, but it was laughter that dominated the air yesterday at the ECB Performance Centre in Loughborough.

In an attempt to prevent lethargy descending on England's damp and disappointed cricketers, who had been forced to travel from a waterlogged Trent Bridge to Loughborough in an attempt to get worthwhile practice, the England coach, Peter Moores, and his captain Vaughan opted for a fun training session as they prepared for this morning's second Test in Nottingham. In a corner of the indoor cricket school Kevin Pietersen could be found diving on to crash mats covered with talcum powder, trying to take catches and emerging from the dust looking like a ghost. Once he had come through that drill he was sent to a net where Andy Flower, England's assistant coach, peppered him with tennis balls.

Wearing only a helmet and a box for protection Pietersen had to evade the 80-90mph balls sent flashing towards him from a bowling machine positioned 15 yards away. Ian Bell's reactions, much to the amusement of the players, let him down on a couple of occasions and he left the session with a couple of bruises to show for his effort.

"It is important to keep your spirits high," said a dusty Vaughan. "With the forecast as it is we are likely to play tomorrow and this helps make sure that we get our minds mentally right so that we are ready to play when required. The coach sets his stations up and we work our way round in pairs. It's good fun but it is also good for your skill levels and your reactions.

"Not getting outdoor practice is disappointing, but I don't mind the players having an extra day relaxing in back-to-back games. You can never really tell how you are going to pitch up but there was a good vibe at practice and we are in good spirits going in to the game," Vaughan declared

England have every right to be upbeat after an uplifting performance in the first Test. At Lord's, Vaughan and his side were outstanding, producing their best all-round display in almost a year. Amazingly, Vaughan's captaincy received criticism. Apparently he should have shown greater urgency in the field on the final day. Perhaps those with complaints should spend more time watching Twenty20 than Test cricket, it obviously appeals more to them.

"I thought I did all right as a captain," said a perplexed Vaughan. "Peter Moores informed me yesterday that I was getting some stick for the over rate but we bowled at 15.7 an hour on that last day [when time is given for wickets, drink breaks and moving the sight screens] and that is not bad in the modern Test match game.

"Could we have rushed round and got another three, four or five overs in? Possibly. But would we have got the fields in place to take wickets? Maybe not. A lot of these things are said in hindsight. I think it is a little bit of chit-chat at the end of a great game of cricket.

"I was very pleased with the way we played in the first Test and in the way in which we went about our cricket. The young bowlers produced an excellent display and I thought it was a real good Test match pitch. It produced enthralling watching over the five days. I thought the bowlers who played at Lord's produced a very impressive display. They really worked well as a unit, which is something we haven't really done since 2005. It's nice as a captain to have options."

Whether England's bowlers will be able to ply their trade this morning, following another day of heavy rain, will depend on the quality of the drainage here, which is nowhere near as good as that at Lord's.

The sight of additional "super soppers" - machines that soak up surface water and deposit the contents at the side of the ground - being delivered is never a good sign and, like elephants, they spent the entire afternoon ponderously moving over the Trent Bridge outfield before spouting off into empty seats.

Vaughan and Rahul Dravid, the India captain, will get their first view of the pitch this morning and, as at Lord's, the conditions are expected to favour the quicker bowlers. Steve Birks, the head groundsman, suggested that the pitch, which has been covered for four of the past 10 days, is not as hard as he wanted and, in an attempt to give it more pace and bounce, has left a little more grass on it. Such a combination should make run-scoring a challenging experience.

England will play the same XI as that at Lord's and the Test gives Ryan Sidebottom the opportunity to play his first international match at his home ground. Sidebottom, James Anderson and Chris Tremlett will need to bowl just as well as they did in the first Test if they are to keep India's all-star middle order in check. Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, V V S Laxman and Broad are all getting on but it is very rare that they all fail in consecutive Test matches.

TV schedule

Live coverage:

Sky Sports 1, 10.30-19.00

Highlights:

Five, 19.15-20.00

Sky Sports 1, 1am-3am

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