CAPTAIN Michael Vaughan claims his side need to get their "buzz" back if they are to win the npower Test series against South Africa.
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.
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."
Having lost 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 and raised questions about the selection of Nottinghamshire's Pattinson, ahead of 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.
"Darren has taken a lot of criticism.
It's not his fault; he got selected and he turned up and tried his guts out - and at times he bowled good spells.
"I felt sorry for him, because he'd not been in the set-up, around the environment - and didn't know anyone."
Youngster Stuart Broad ensured England avoided a first innings defeat on home soil for five years.
Despite an unbeaten 67, however, his place in the team will come under threat in Birmingham next Wednesday due to a lack of penetration with the ball.
Left-armer Sidebottom is anticipated to return and that should mean reverting back to a four-man bowling unit.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith was keen to savour the moment after leading his country to a record 28th victory - surpassing Hansie Cronje's total - but wary England have come from behind to avoid defeat in the series of 1994, 1998 and 2003.
"I have a fantastic group of players around me so that's more important for me than those stats. Edgbaston offers us the opportunity to close the series out and we'll be building towards that."
What do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORE Football headlinesMore BladesMore OwlsMore SpireitesMore RoversMore RedsMore MillersMore Ice HockeyMore rugby leagueMore rugby unionMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categoriesThe full article contains 630 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
