Michael Vaughan exploited a succession of Australian lapses in the field to make his first significant contribution to the Ashes series and guide England into a strong position at Old Trafford.

The England captain has struggled to assert himself with a bat during this summer's series with bowlers becoming the dominant force in the dramatic opening two Tests at Lord's and Edgbaston.

But their spell was broken by Vaughan, who even stole the limelight from Shane Warne on the day of his record-breaking 600th Test wicket, firstly by winning the toss to exploit batsman-friendly conditions and then by making the most of a series of errors to score a superb 166 and guide England to a 341 for five by the close.

Vaughan entered this third Test desperately short of form after passing 50 only four times in his last 12 Tests with little sign of improvement.

This time, though, he enjoyed his fair share of good fortunes to spearhead England's innings with a superb display only tarnished by the loss of two wickets in four balls to fast bowler Brett Lee shortly before the close to give Australia belated encouragement.

England's hopes of gaining momentum from their dramatic two-run victory at Edgbaston on Sunday appeared to be lost by the comebacks of Lee and Glenn McGrath, who were both doubtful to feature in this Test just days ago.

Whatever lift Australia took from their inclusion was deflated by a sub-standard display in the field which resulted in four dropped catches, a wicket off a no-ball and a series of mis-fields similar to England's shoddy display during the opening Test at Lord's.

It took just five overs to manifest itself with Adam Gilchrist missing a regulation chance diving one-handed to his left and allowing Marcus Trescothick to escape on 13.

That miss did not appear costly at the time with Andrew Strauss, already dazed after being hit under the right ear by a Lee bouncer, losing his off-stump to the same bowler in his next over to bring the England captain to the crease.

Perhaps it was the return to the ground where he made the first of his Test centuries - against Pakistan four years ago - which settled Vaughan down, but he looked more composed and controlled than he has done scoring 32 in his previous four innings in the series.

With Trescothick determined to exploit his early reprieve and Vaughan looking more like the player who hit three centuries during the last Ashes series in Australia two years ago, the pair began to dominate.

They had their share of good fortune, though, with Vaughan moving on to 41 when he pushed hard at McGrath and edged behind where Warne appeared set to take the catch above his head before Gilchrist intervened at the last minute and tipped the ball beyond his reach and to the boundary.

McGrath, who returned after suffering ankle ligament damage, must have wondered whether all his efforts were worthwhile after removing Vaughan's off-stump with the next ball only for Steve Bucknor to rule a no-ball.

The escape seemed to galvanise England and for another 12 overs Vaughan and Trescothick dominated Australia, who finally turned to Warne in a desperate attempt to end the partnership in the 34th over of the innings.

Warne, back at the ground where his legend began with his 'ball of the century' to Mike Gatting in 1993, took five overs but finally ended the 137-run stand when Trescothick mis-timed an attempted sweep and was caught behind off the back of his bat.

That triggered a spontaneous standing ovation from the sell-out crowd in recognition at Warne's achievement at becoming the first bowler in history to claim 600 Test wickets, while Vaughan walked down the wicket to shake his hand.

It was Vaughan's last act of charity for some time and with Ian Bell providing determined resistance at the other end, the batsman who brilliantly dominated Australia two winters ago began to emerge and he became the first player of the series to reach three figures.

Perhaps fearing Vaughan could go on and on, Australia's fielding took a further turn for the worst with Bell being missed on 18 when he spooned up a return catch to McGrath after he had outwitted him with a slower ball, but once again the chance was missed.

Vaughan was also given another life on 141 when he pushed forward to Warne and was missed at slip by Matthew Hayden, which enabled him to pass 150.

Just 14 overs before the close, however, Vaughan's impeccable shot selection deserted him when he strode down the wicket and launched Simon Katich straight to McGrath at long on having hit a six and 19 fours.

Kevin Pietersen played an equally ill-timed shot with the second delivery with the new ball from Lee and was caught on the mid-wicket boundary and the decision to send in Matthew Hoggard as nightwatchman lasted 10 balls before it backfired, with Lee removing his off-stump in the final over of the day.