England captain Michael Vaughan is looking to the future after seeing the Champions Trophy slip from in grasp at The Oval on Saturday.

England were all but home with the West Indies 147-8, still needing 71 from the last two wickets, but tailenders Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw saw the tourists home with seven balls to spare.

"To have them at 140-odd for 8 was great, but sometimes you have to take your hat off to the opposition," said a disappointed Vaughan. "Browne and Bradshaw came in and played sensibly, and didn't give us a chance. We got a few that beat the bat, and a couple of lbw shouts, but you sometimes have to say that the opposition played well. Their partnership was the difference between winning and losing."

Vaughan defended what seemed a strange decision not to use specialist spinner Ashley Giles at any point in the West Indies innings, even when his other bowlers were unable to break the ninth-wicket partnership which won the West Indies the match.

"I try and judge our bowling attack according to the given situation and the given wicket," he said. "We felt that on this pitch medium-pacers were the best bet, and that's why [Marcus] Trescothick and Paul Collingwood bowled so much. They did an excellent job, and at 147-8 we had done the hard work. But that partnership took the game away from us.

"When we look at the bigger picture and see how the guys played throughout the last few weeks, I think the guys can be very proud of themselves. We have a good break now, it's important that we rest our bodies and mind and prepare ourselves for what should be a fantastic winter."

27 Sep, 2004