Vaughan climbs to second in world ratings

Australia awoke yesterday to a new hero whose name only sounds like Waugh and Warne. The nation could hardly believe that a Pom had been voted man of the series in an Ashes contest his side had lost 4-1, but it was left in no doubt that comparisons went beyond mere phonetics.

Michael Vaughan began this tour as an opener making his way, having scored four centuries in the English summer. He will finish it as a batsman who has arrived, officially one of the world's great batsmen.

His status and the way in which he is judged have unquestionably changed after his glorious 183 in the fifth Test, his third hundred of the series. Steve Waugh, Australia's captain, said he could achieve anything he wanted if he did not get too carried away. Waugh admitted that he did not know Vaughan too well as a bloke: if he did, he would not need to have added the rider.

It was confirmed yesterday that his innings in Sydney took him to second place in the world ratings, the highest position for an English batsman since Graham Gooch was No 1 in the early 1990s.

Duncan Fletcher, England's coach, recalled how he realised that Vaughan was something special early on his first England tour to South Africa three years ago. "It was in the nets at Pretoria," he said. "Vaughan was a lucky selection. There were 17 on that tour and he was No 17 selected. I brought the name up. I put a whole plan together to try and pick that side. Each captain and coach in each county were asked to fill in a player they thought could play for England and his name appeared a few times. Not too many.

"We hadn't seen a lot of the players. Nasser [Hussain] and I had had a few discussions, but we weren't too sure of our batting line-up because there were so many new recruits.

"We were sitting in the nets and I said to Nasser: 'That guy's got to bat four'. The technique, the way he approached it, the way he's mentally very, very stable. There was something about him that told a story."

Sections of the Australian press attempted some sabre-rattling over his selection as the series' best player, but Vaughan scored 663 runs in the series, 167 ahead of the next batsman and Geoff Lawson, the former Test fast bowler, who was one of two Australians on the three-man panel, said: "It was a very close decision, but it was unanimous. We took into account that Vaughan was facing the better-quality attack."

Tom Graveney, the former England batsman, who was at the match, said Vaughan was up there with Len Hutton and Geoff Boycott. "He's almost going back in time the way he uses the top hand in his shots." Bill Brown, the last surviving member of the "Invincibles", the 1948 Australian side that beat England 4-0, paid Vaughan the ultimate compliment: "He bats like an Australian."

The object of the attention spent the day relaxing, one of seven players who did not make the trip to Bowral for the one-day match between Bradman's XI and England. There will not be many England fixtures in which he does not appear in the near future.