BIRMINGHAM (England), Aug 3: England were handed a timely boost on the eve of the second Ashes Test on Wednesday when captain Michael Vaughan passed himself fit to play at Edgbaston.

Vaughan, who had an X-ray after being struck on the elbow in the nets by seamer Chris Tremlett on Tuesday, told a news conference: “I feared the worst. If it had been a break it would not just have been just one Test it would have been a lot more.

“A lot of emotions run through your mind. It’s a great feeling when you get the X-rays back and there’s no break.”

England, 1-0 down in the five-match series against the world champions, also decided to release late call-up Paul Collingwood, signalling their intention to persevere with spinner Ashley Giles.

Australia decided to retain the winning formula that earned them a 239-run victory at Lord’s, even though Michael Kasprowicz pressed Jason Gillespie hard for the third seamer’s slot with five wickets against Worcestershire.

“All the bowlers were impressive (against Worcestershire) but Jason with the new ball beat the outside edge a number of times and bowled a line and length that we are all used to seeing him bowl,” said captain Ricky Ponting.

“He got some appreciable movement in the air and off the seam, that’s what we were looking for from him.”

Ponting said that Gillespie’s position as incumbent secured his slot, something Giles will hope works in his favour after the left-arm spinner was widely criticised in the media for his anonymous showing in the series opener.

Collingwood, a batsman who bowls useful medium pace, was added to the squad after Birmingham was buffeted by bad weather, including a freak tornado, last week but was released on Wednesday.

Last week’s rain suggested the game would be played on a damp wicket unsuitable to spin but the Edgbaston surface was drying rapidly on Wednesday following a spell of sunny weather, convincing England to stick with Giles.

Giles’s state of mind — he hit back emotionally this week at his critics, even suggesting that some former England players wanted the team to lose — has been as big a talking point since Lord’s as his bowling.

Some commentators have wondered how he will cope with Australian sledging if he cannot cope with his own press but few have championed an alternative spinner to replace him.

As Giles pointed out himself in The Guardian: “There is no English Shane Warne ... And, that being the case, whether people like it or not, I still think I’m the best man for the job.”

Giles failed to take a wicket in 11 overs costing 56 runs at Lord’s. He also failed to contain the Australians, forcing Vaughan to turn back to his overworked fast bowlers.

“With him,” Derbyshire coach Dave Houghton told the media after the Lord’s Test, “England are effectively playing 10 against 11.”

Edgbaston is Giles’s home ground, where he took nine wickets in the second Test against West Indies last year and England will need that sort of penetrative bowling from their whole attack if they are to hit back early in the series.

A second defeat win will leave Australia on the brink of sealing their ninth consecutive Ashes series success.

Barring more tornadoes, a draw seems out of the question. The last 15 Ashes Tests have all ended in victories, 12 of them to Australia.

Meanwhile, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has a message for England spinner Ashley Giles - forget the critics and get on with cricket.

Giles has led a remarkable counter-offensive against commentators and columnists who slammed England’s first Test loss at Lord’s last month, and who also singled out Giles, who took 0-56 with ball, and made 11 and 0 with bat.

After Lord’s defeat, left-arm spinner accused some ex-England players of deliberately undermining the side’s chances of winning Ashes because of petty jealousies.

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