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| Well done, Mate: England skipper Michael Vaughan and his South African counterpart Graeme Smith exchange congratulatory notes after South Africa won the second Test at Leeds on Monday. pic/AP |
Vaughan admitted the disruption to the Test side this week was a contributing factor in the 10-wicket hammering by the South Africans at Headingley, which put them 1-0 down with two to play.
Reigning England player of the year Ryan Sidebottom was ruled out through injury on the first morning and virtually unknown Australian-raised bowler Darren Pattinson came into a five-man attack.
Came unstuck
As a result Test stalwart Paul Collingwood was axed after a 33-game stretch in the side and the team bonding created over six matches without a change came unstuck.
"There are obviously areas where we can improve, and we hope we can come up with a side that can be better balanced and can beat South Africa at Edgbaston," said Vaughan.
"I always have a huge belief in being a unit, having togetherness in Test match cricket, and we didn't feel as much of a unit this week as we did last.
"We need to get that buzz back: if we can do that, we can still win the series."
Wrong end
Having been on the wrong end of the toss in Leeds, England needed team spirit to come through in the difficult batting conditions but Collingwood's absence robbed them of their biggest fighter.
The middle-order slump to 203 all out then left South Africa with the chance to dictate the destiny of the contest. "The whole Friday morning unsettled the team. You change the team by two players, have players moving out of position and leave someone like Paul Collingwood out... of course it has an effect," Vaughan said.
"You could see he was very disappointed, and people were disappointed for him.
"But a lot of us are experienced and we still should and could have coped with it better.
"We got ourselves in a half-decent position, 110 for three, and then played like millionaires in the afternoon."
South Africa's disciplined two days at the crease then exposed England's lack of penetration on a slow surface and raised questions about the selection of Nottinghamshire's Pattinson, featuring in only his 12th first-class match, ahead of experienced duo Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison.
"It does look a confused selection, but the selection of one person does not lose you a Test match," said Vaughan. "We lost a Test match because we didn't play well enough.
