Skippers on the money as Twenty20 row looms

For Vaughan, an innings of 106 not only prevented England from collapsing spectacularly in the opening act of the summer's first npower series but it also enabled him to ease alongside Graham Gooch as scorer of the most Test centuries - six apiece - at the game's spiritual home.

And Vettori, with figures of five for 69 from 22.3 overs of wonderfully controlled left-arm spin, joins the list of bowlers who have dismissed half a Test side on the ground every cricketer dreams of gracing.

But what does any of that matter compared with the possibility of earning £500,000 from the Indian Premier League or some Stanford challenge match in Antigua?

Twenty20 is casting a long shadow over events at Lord's - and the fact that bad weather ravaged the First Test for three days out of four has done nothing to help.

New Zealand resumed today two runs behind and with all 10 of their second-innings wickets remaining. A draw seemed highly likely and if the Kiwis go to Manchester later this week with the series still all-square then Vettori will be the happier captain by far.

"Most people were predicting England to dominate," he said. "I thought we played really well and for them to be only 42 runs ahead on first innings after the two sides had batted in completely contrasting conditions is good reward for us."

Having dismissed the Kiwis for 277 when batting was at its most difficult and reached 148 for one themselves, Vaughan's men were supposed to build a huge lead before eventually declaring and then putting the visitors under pressure. Instead, it was level pegging going into the final morning, with England all out for 319 and New Zealand 40 for nought second time around.

The Kiwis were already ahead in one respect, however. With Vettori and four other players being allowed to miss the first week of the tour in order to earn big money playing IPL cricket, the possibility of team spirit being damaged beyond repair was real. But, judging from yesterday's events, New Zealand are as together as ever.

Will the same be said of England a few months from now?

The £10million Stanford challenge matches in Antigua are set to go ahead, with the first of them taking place this November. But, as always seemed likely, there will not be winner-takes-all.

Instead, there is likely to be an 'appearance' fee for every player in the squad (probably around £50,000) with maybe £7m being divided among the victors once a sum has been deducted to help redevelop Caribbean cricket.

But the potentially divisive issue concerns who should share in the spoils. Of the 12 players who have central contracts, for example, only five played in England's last Twenty20 games, against New Zealand, three months ago.

Sorting out the haves and the have-nots could be harder than scoring a Test century at Lord's.