Vaughan aims to end bizarre sequence

Since Michael Vaughan took over as captain, England have not won an ODI after setting a target, while 12 batting second have been won.

England captain Michael Vaughan is adamant that his side can win a one-day international while batting first.

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Since Vaughan took over the captaincy last year England have not won a one-day international after setting a target although in 12 games batting second have all ended in victory.

Vaughan's men have a chance to turn that sequence around when they face New Zealand in the NatWest triangular series here Sunday.

England's winless run batting first stretches back 22 games to last year's World Cup in South Africa.

In this series the two matches where they were sent in first ended in seven-wicket defeats with West Indies bowling them out for 147 at Trent Bridge and New Zealand dismissing them for 101 at Chester-le-Street - their sixth-lowest one-day international total.

England though gave themselves a chance of qualifying for the July 10 final at Lord's with a seven-wicket win over the West Indies at Headingley on Thursday.

But Vaughan said there were plenty of nations who found it tough batting first in a one-day international

"There are a lot of teams around the world struggling to do the same thing," said Vaughan here Saturday.

"The answer is probably that teams are timing their innings better chasing than they are setting.

But the Yorkshire batsman added: "I always think that's the best way to play, getting runs on the board and putting pressure on, but the trend around the world is the other way around.

"We must make sure when we bat first we bat well and communicate and know what a good score is," said Vaughan ahead of September's ICC Champions Trophy one-day tournament in England.

"We openly admit we played it badly at Trent Bridge and Durham and there's no denying the fact that our communication was obviously at fault and our shot selection was at fault in those games."

Vaughan himself will hope to play a major role, whenever England bat, after managing just 27 runs in his last three one-day innings.

"I haven't played that well in the competition," Vaughan admitted. "Once I get a big score I'm sure you'll see a difference, but at the top of the order you have to be getting runs and at the minute I'm not and that must change."

Turning to England's winter tour of Zimbabwe, Vaughan insisted England would send a full-strength side despite the Test leg of the trip being scrapped.

Zimbabwe's four remaining Tests this year have all been postponed by the International Cricket Council following a strike by several leading players, including former captain Heath Streak, in protest at what they saw as racist selection policies.

England are set to play five one-day internationals, one more than previously arranged, following their arrival in November.

The lack of any Tests led to suggestions that England would send an under-strength side to Zimbabwe.

But Vaughan said: "I don't think we're due to go until the end of November and if we reach the final of the ICC Champions Trophy, that's at the end of September so there's still two months rest there and I wouldn't have thought we would have been resting players for that."

He added: "There are only 35 one-day matches between now and the (2007) World Cup and that's not all that many to get experience in so we have to bear that in mind as well."