ON the day he was omitted from the England squad, Michael Vaughan’s disappointing day was completed after he went for just five Worcestershire.

Widely expected to be back in the international fold, the batsman was not among the 12 names picked for the series against the West Indies next month.

When play finally got underway at Headingley after 21 overs had been lost because of a damp outfield, Vaughan appeared to have the perfect opportunity to prove the doubters wrong after missing out on selection, when he resumed on nought with Yorkshire on 123 for one.

However, his miserable few hours were concluded when he lasted just 10 balls before edging an easy catch to Steve Davies at wicketkeeper, after a good delivery from the Australian Ashley Noffke.

Vaughan’s disgruntled face told the story as made the l o n g w a l k back to the pavilion, his annoyance even more justified bearing in mind Worcestershire’s attack is missing key pair Simon Jones and Kabir Ali.

His dismissal brought Yorkshire’s captain Anthony Mc- Grath to the crease to join his deputy Jacques Rudolph, and they once more underlined their importance to the team with a sublime stand of 237.

It’s the biggest ever on home soil against Worcestershire but it could have been so much more if dozens of shots had not have held up short of the boundary on the new surface.

Only laid three weeks ago to improve the irrigation and drainage, there were plenty of questions being asked of it by the end of the day, bearing in the mind the loss of play in the morning and the slowness in the afternoon.

Rudolph took all that in his stride though to make 194, as he and Mc- Grath produced a period of scintillating and seemingly effortless batting.

He and Mc- Grath reached their century partnership in just 151 balls to move the score on to 230, before continuing their relentless attack of Worcestershire’s bowlers, by this time toiling in the afternoon sun.

McGrath joined the South African in reaching three figures just after the pair had put on 200 - by this time the Tykes were suddenly on 339 for two.

The pair continued with their assault on the visitors until McGrath drove Daryl Mitchell straight to Gareth Batty at cover after scoring 120 to leave Yorkshire on 367 for three.

Some tentative batting meant they fell short of reaching 400 within 120 overs and missed out on the fifth and maximum bonus point.

At the close they were 394 for three, with Andrew Gale on 14 and Rudolph just six short of his double century.

Scoreboard

Yorkshire v Worcestershire At Headingley Carnegie

Overnight: Yorkshire 123-1

Yorkshire First Innings Close

J A Rudolph not out ......................194

M P Vaughan c S M Davies b Noffke ...5

A McGrath c Batty b Mitchell ..........120

A W Gale not out .............................14

Extras (lb1 w7 nb4 pens 0)......12

Total 3 wkts (122 overs).........394

Fall: 1-123 2-130 3-367

Bowling: Noffke 29-6-77-1. Mason 31-8- 75-0. Whelan 18-1-84-1. Arif 12-0-75-0.

Batty 22-1-58-0. Mitchell 10-1-24-1.