Butcher earns rare applause for England

Australia may have taken a familiar grip of proceedings on the first day of the fourth Ashes Test here yesterday, but England's Mark Butcher had no doubt that honesty was the best policy.

With Australia moving ominously towards their end-of-play total of 356 for 3, Steve Waugh edged a delivery from Andy Caddick to Butcher, who appeared to catch the ball just before it hit the ground.

Waugh, on 56, stood his ground as Caddick and other England players appealed for the catch. Butcher, however, made it clear to players from both sides that he was unsure as to whether his catch had been a clean one.

"Steve asked me if I had caught it and I said I wasn't sure," Butcher admitted.

The decision was eventually referred to the third umpire Darrell Hair who gave it not out after watching video replays. The Australia captain, who finished unbeaten on 62, shook hands with Butcher during the incident while Justin Langer (146 not out) and Matthew Hayden (102), who shared an opening stand of 195, said Butcher was sending the right message to cricketers worldwide.

"Mark Butcher straight away said he didn't catch it so I think that showed good sportsmanship," Langer said. "He told Steve he didn't catch it so to me it probably didn't need to go to the third umpire.

"Andy Caddick might have thought it did carry. At that point the umpire said 'Are you appealing?' and he said 'Yes, I am appealing'."

Hayden agreed with his fellow opener: "It's terrific to see that in sport," he said. "I think the handshake was very reflective of the way everyone feels about the way the game should go."

Langer, 32, who reached his 13th Test century with a six off the spinner Richard Dawson, said it was the most satisfying innings he could have played.

"That nice feeling... for about one or two seconds in your life you feel absolutely untouchable. It was like standing in a vacuum," he said. "You know it's going for six and you know you've just got a hundred. It makes all the bad days worthwhile."

Hayden, meanwhile, said he was excited to see Waugh, 37, make a half-century when his future as a Test player was under scrutiny. "He's a true ice-man under pressure and he just came out all class today I thought," Hayden said. "He's in good touch."

The England assistant coach, Graham Dilley, insisted that the tourists had generally performed well under difficult circumstances. He said: "They [Australia] are great players, aren't they?

"They have spells where they take the game away from you," Dilley added. "I think there were actually some good things for us to take out of it."