BIRMINGHAM, (England), June 29: England captain Michael Vaughan says the ugly incident which overshadowed Tuesday’s washed-out Triangular Series match against Australia here at Edgbaston could just be the first of many in a fiery Ashes season.

Tempers were frayed when Glamorgan fast bowler Simon Jones was off-target with a throw at the stumps and hit Australia batsman Matthew Hayden on the chest.

Hayden let fly with an angry torrent of words and although Jones apologised instantly and again after the match, the incident underlined the fierce rivalry between the teams.

Vaughan and Australia captain Ricky Ponting were both called in to see umpires David Shepherd and Billy Bowden after the game in a bid to prevent more bad blood during Saturday’s Anglo-Australian final at Lord’s.

But Vaughan insisted after Tuesday’s game was abandoned: “We play it pretty tough and so do they - I won’t say it will be the last time that England and Australia have a few words and I am sure it will happen throughout the series.

“We are just trying to play cricket like we have done for the last two years and that’s been quite attacking and quite tough.

“We have not stepped over the line and we try to play the game in the right spirit, but when it’s England against Australia there are bound to be some moments out in the middle which get a bit heated.”

Although Vaughan did not condone the incident he said England’s unity was demonstrated by the way both Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff both backed up Jones by becoming involved in some heated verbal exchanges with Hayden,

“Simon apologised straight away and the incident that happened was probably a bit untoward, but it’s good to see the England team were all together,” Vaughan explained.

“I think that’s where we have been for two years. Whether we have been batting, bowling or fielding we have been all together.

“We try and play as a team in all situations. It gets to a stage sometimes when you have to stick together in a bit of a confrontation. That’s exactly what other teams do, but we don’t step over the line.”

Ponting tried to downplay the incident and defuse tensions ahead of the next four one-day matches between the teams (after Saturday’s final England and Australia are involved in a separate three-game series) and the subssequent five Ashes Tests.

“It was just something that happened in the heat of battle. I don’t think there was any malice,” said Ponting, who walked down from the non-striker’s end to try to calm left-handed opener Hayden.

“I don’t think he meant to hit Matty. I was not worried about it. I was trying to get down there as quickly as I could as well just to try and defuse what might have happened.”

Ponting, whose team face Bangladesh in Canterbury on Thursday in a ‘dead’ match, added: “I don’t think it was a big deal, it was just a mis-directed throw and a reaction from the batsman - that’s as much as I read into it.”—AFP