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England batting worries Vaughan
England captain Michael Vaughan admitted his side's ODI batting form was becoming a serious concern after their second straight defeat.
England captain Michael Vaughan admitted his side's poor one-day batting form was becoming a serious concern after they lost their second straight NatWest Series match at the Riverside on Tuesday.
England were bowled out for 101 by New Zealand as they suffered another seven-wicket defeat after being dismissed for 147 by the West Indies on Sunday.
It left Vaughan's men bottom-of-the table in the triangular tournament and struggling to qualify for the July 10 final at Lord's.
"You get bowled out for 147 and then 101. It's not good enough, especially on a wicket when 180-200 would have been a real competitive total with the likes of Stephen Harmison in your team," said Vaughan after England were skittled out for their sixth-lowest one-day international score.
"You've just got to hold your hands up and say as a group we are not playing well enough at the minute," explained Vaughan, following a valiant, career-best haul of three for 38 from Durham quick Harmison on his home ground after England had lost the toss and batted first.
England were again without star all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, the big-hitting
basman out for the whole series with an ankle injury, while Kent's in-form Robert Key was once more left on the sidelines.
But Vaughan said England's problems were not down to selection or injury. "You can talk batting orders, different personnel, but the be-all and end-all is the eleven in the team aren't batting well enough as a unit to give our bowlers enough chance to win a game of cricket when we are batting first."
Left-arm swing bowler James Franklin took a career-best five for 42 as New Zealand recorded their tenth victory in twelve one-day internationals since John Bracewell became their coach in December.
And Vaughan admitted: "You've got to give Franklin a bit of credit for the way he swung it."
But he added that Franklin's performance alone in this day/night encounter could not explain England's failings. "We had too many loose wickets as well.
"We've just got to somehome come to grips with when we bat first making sure we put a competitive total on the board," explained Vaughan after a defeat that confirmed a worrying trend since he took over as captain last year.
And Vaughan insisted: "I'd have batted first today if we'd won the toss today (Tuesday) because we have to get use to doing it. If you want to be a good team, you have to get used to doing both, whether you are chasing or setting totals."
Looking ahead, Vaughan said England needed to win at least two of their remaining three games, starting against the West Indies in another day/nighter at Headingley on Thursday, if the team were to qualify for the final.
"That's the one positive, that we're back on the horse quickly to put things right."
England were booed off the field by a section of the Riverside crowd following this lacklustre performance.
It contrasted sharply with their Test match form where series wins away to Bangladesh (2-0) and the West Indies (3-0) were followed by a 3-0 home whitewashing of New Zealand, completed earlier this month.
"When you play well, as we have done in the Tests, you take all the praise and when you play badly as one-day team, as we have, you are going to have take criticism," Vaughan said.
"The boys are going to have be big enough and strong enough to take it on the chin and make sure that they get themselves right for Thursday's game because we have to redeem ourselves."
