England batsmen produce another curate's egg performance

Test match batting preparation aplenty was on offer for England in perfect batting conditions against Canterbury in Christchurch today but, Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain and to a lesser extent Craig White excepted, England failed to make the most of their chances.

Cricket in Christchurch played in the idyllic weather and surroundings of today is cricket as it should be played and the dreams of the city's planners of the mid-19th Century were realised at the mid-city complex of Hagley Oval.

Yet even the almost English setting, a goal of those town planners, was not sufficient to prevent England also suffering problems.

The middle-order batting collapse, the curse of recent England performances, reared its head again in benign conditions before White led a recovery which saw England with a 188-run lead by stumps.

Vaughan, despite his lack of appearances on New Zealand soil, is shaping as the most serious contender for batsman of the tour, and that is based on an obvious delight, even in only two appearances so far, in scoring runs and spending time in the middle. This is a player most countries would nurture and encourage.

"I couldn't have asked for a better day. We had the best of the conditions and I needed a score," he said in reflecting on his masterful 156, scored off 198 balls and including 23 fours.

It is amazing to believe that a batsman of such quality has to stand in a queue for a Test match place when he has looked the player most likely to succeed. His attitude of putting the pressure back on the selectors to pick him was confirmed afterwards.

"All I concentrated on was putting pressure on by scoring a big hundred.

"The make-up of the team is not down to me, I just hope that when the team is named on Wednesday I am in there," he said.

Vaughan, who shared a 207-run stand with Hussain, felt no ill effects of the shoulder dislocation that forced him to leave the field during the fourth One-Day International in Auckland.

"My shoulder is fine when I'm batting and is getting better by the day.

"I was always going to be playing in this game after having had treatment on the shoulder in Queenstown.

"I had no reaction from it when I was batting and I felt free to play any shot. I felt in good touch. We cashed in on some balls that were there to be hit and that is the secret of batting," he said.

Hussain batted like a player still trying to get the one-day series out of his system, which he was after being excused from the first three-day game against Otago earlier in the week. He was much more controlled than Vaughan who was very much the senior partner of their stand.

His innings of 69 took 121 balls and ended when he attempted a sharp single, of his own calling, but he didn't allow for Canterbury square leg fieldsman Gary Stead fielding the ball cleanly and breaking the stumps at the bowler's end with his throw.

The run out came one run after Vaughan's dismissal and was followed soon after by Mark Ramprakash who was caught by short leg fieldsman Robbie Frew as he attempted to turn a ball from off-spinner Paul Wiseman.

Then Andrew Flintoff suffered the mortification of continuing the tumble when hitting a full toss straight back to bowler Chris Harris to be out for one.

Four wickets had fallen for eight runs.

Usman Afzaal was joined by White and they added 43 runs before Afzaal became the first victim of the new ball, being caught from Warren Wisneski's bowling for 19 from 56 balls. James Foster was bowled by Wisneski four runs later to leave England 333/7.

The chance for Canterbury to wrap up the innings was lost when Ashley Giles was dropped by point fieldsman Shanan Stewart when on nine. He had the ball in his hands but in rolling over he lost the ball.

Hitting out in celebration, Giles helped White add 50 for the eighth wicket before he cut at a ball from Wisneski which lobbed to Harris at gully.

White brought up his 50 off 114 balls, having his seven fours. By stumps soon after he was 53 not out and Andy Caddick was four not out.

Wisneski had problems with his rhythm during the morning but when he returned with the second new ball he proved a much more difficult customer for the batsmen and he ended the day with three for 88.

Young tyro Wade Cornelius came in for some stick and had one wicket, Mark Butcher, at a cost of 85 runs. Wiseman had two for 70 from 17 overs.

The real pressure goes on the England attack tomorrow. To knock over Canterbury which hasn't been one of the harder assignments for side's in recent domestic history, more bowlers than Caddick have to fire.