He scored 145 in England's second innings to take him past India's Sachin Tendulkar as the top Test run-scorer of 2002 with 1,481 but a middle-order collapse saw the tourists slump to 387 all out, leaving Australia to score 107 to win the match.

Vaughan told Sky Sports: "I got in in the morning and I just tried to continue in a positive vein.

"Australia bowled a few loose balls and I got off to a flyer. My feet were moving well and I was hitting the ball with the middle of the bat and I guess it was just one of those days. It's a good wicket to come in and play your strokes on.

"I just felt if I could have been there for a bit longer I thought we could give them 200 to chase and I'm disappointed we didn't set them more to chase on Monday."

Asked about his remarkable Test figures, Vaughan added: "I've always said I will look at my stats when my career has finished but if I'm being mentioned alongside Graham Gooch and Dennis Compton then I must be doing something right.

"I'm still pretty young and the stats will mean more to me when I finish my career, not at 28."

Vaughan played a very straight bat to questions surrounding the future of England's World Cup match due to be played in troubled Zimbabwe.

"I'm a cricketer and if the ECB tell me to go and play I will and if they tell me not to go I won't go," he added.