Stressed Vaughan must lead from front

ENGLAND have much to ponder and plenty of things to try to put right between now and next week's Second Test in Birmingham.

To me, though, the biggest concern for them is not all those dropped catches - horrible though they were - or the scale of the Lord's defeat after they had made such a passionate and promising start to the Ashes series.

No, it's Michael Vaughan who worries me most if we're looking at this from a purely England perspective.

I had singled him out as the man most likely to be their leading runscorer in the series, even though matching what he did in Australia two and half years ago when scoring those three centuries was always going to be a mighty tall order.

And, of course, with four Tests to go, Vaughan can still rise to the top.

But, at the moment, he just looks under huge pressure, as though being captain of an England team expected to be more competitive than any of those in recent Ashes series' is really weighing him down.

His team needs him, first and foremost, as a batsman in form. Getting bowled in both innings at Lord's suggests to me that something is not quite right and to sort that out he needs to make sure he invests some quality time on his own game before Birmingham.

At the moment, Vaughan seems to be getting stuck on the crease, playing slightly across the line.

Of course, he will be thinking back to Lord's and forward to Edgbaston - where England went wrong and what they should do to put it right.

But the team badly need their captain to lead from the front and set the example when he is batting. So going away now, working solidly and getting the flow back into his game is absolutely vital. Michael's a quality player who has done it before against Australia. But he can't live on those performances from a previous series for ever.

Glenn McGrath, of course, cleaned him up in the first innings at Lord's.

And some people may have noticed that as soon as Vaughan got to the crease there was a heated moment with his opposite number, Ricky Ponting.

I think we can have a pretty good idea what that was all about.

When Ponting was cut on the cheek while batting earlier in the day, I did not see Vaughan or one England player inquire, at any stage, whether the Aussie skipper was okay.

Ponting probably welcomed Vaughan into the firing line - just in case the home captain wasn't feeling under enough pressure!

As for after the match, Ponting commented that it looked to him as though Vaughan didn't like facing McGrath and could expect to see plenty more of him this summer.

You could see that as another attempt at mind games, just piling on a bit more pressure. Actually, I suspect it was nothing more than an example of Ponting's honesty during media interviews - he generally tells it as he sees it.

And, let's face it, I shouldn't think there is a batsman in the world who actually fancies facing McGrath.

Even some of those now retired may still suffer the odd nightmare.

I remember former England captain Mike Atherton saying the first couple of times he batted against Glenn he couldn't work out what all the fuss was about. It didn't appear too tough. But, pretty much from then on, McGrath seemed to be able to get him out for fun.

The big mistake Vaughan and most of the top order batsmen made at Lord's was exactly opposite to the error committed by Australia earlier in the day.

Ponting's team played too many shots. But then, probably because they were delighted to have got the world champions out for 190, England came out and were far too conservative. In minutes, McGrath and Brett Lee were in complete charge.

Vaughan and the other batsmen need proper plans.

The start of the second innings was more encouraging for them with openers Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss building a good base with their stand of 80. They will need to do that - and more - time after time during this series.

But then came the Shane Warne factor, and as soon as Warney came on you just knew something was going to give.

England still don't seem to know how to score against him.

The premeditated sweep shots employed by Trescothick and Strauss would have delighted Shane.

He only needs a couple of balls, perhaps an over at most, to work out what is going through the batsman's mind - and those strokes were real giveaways.

Basically, I think the batsmen need to be more instinctive against him.

You've got to watch the ball as closely as you can and play the delivery, not the man. And I reckon you minimise the risk by playing straight.

Kevin Pietersen finished as top scorer in both innings. Hardly surprising.

Unlike most of the others, he moved his feet and, whether going forward or back, was committed and decisive - not half-hearted. Half measures against Warne will get you out sooner rather than later.

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