Vaughan must foil Jacques the lad

The baton is being handed back soon enough. But how much better for both Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain if it comes gift-wrapped with another victory over South Africa.

A capacity crowd of 30,000 at Lord's tomorrow will settle for a repeat of last year's rich entertainment against India, especially if England can win the NatWest Series final this time.

But for Vaughan, a home success would be the perfect end to his first stint as captain. And for Hussain, it should be the ideal result to ensure that South Africa are on a downer as they start their preparations for what could be his last Test series in charge.

Remember, it was the tourists - through captain Graeme Smith and coach Eric Simons - who reckoned earlier this week that Tuesday's 'dead' qualifying game at Edgbaston and tomorrow's final were capable of giving one side a psychological advantage for the longer battle to come.

Well, England triumphed emphatically enough in Birmingham - and anything similar to that four-wicket result tomorrow might leave South Africa seeking to change their tune.

Vaughan has no need to find a new songsheet.

He has said, since before the three-game NatWest Challenge against Pakistan, that his newlook team would have good days and bad. Patience, he implied, would be welcome.

Well, although it is debatable how much England have learned about the likes of Jim Troughton, Robert Key, Kabir Ali and Steve Harmison as one-day players, there are already some ticks in important boxes.

For a start, Vaughan has shown he can shoulder the responsibility of captaincy and cope with a sequence of modest scores without retreating into his shell or showing any outward signs of change.

By making 83 during Tuesday'swin at Edgbaston, Vaughan also proved he was right when he kept saying: "I'm not worried because I feel in good nick."

With the captain restored to full bloom, Marcus Trescothick always likely to take an innings by the scruff of the neck, Andrew Flintoff in the finest all-round form of his international career, Darren Gough back on the warpath and Jimmy Anderson having apparently inherited Ian Botham's old scriptwriter, England have plenty of match-winners.

There are plenty of people at Surrey who believe Rikki Clarke will join that list soon enough and his confident innings of 37 in Birmingham on Tuesday should guarantee him another crack at the South Africans.

England have played around with their batting order with coach Duncan Fletcher saying only last weekend: "To be honest we are not 100 per cent sure of it yet. We are trying to give everyone a chance, and a decent chance. But over only 10 games that's very difficult."

It looks a little easier now, although the argument for Vaughan opening with Trescothick and transferring their successful Test partnership to the one-day stage remains a strong one.

But Anthony McGrath at No 4, at least for tomorrow, followed by Flintoff, Clarke and Chris Read, seems sound enough.

Flintoff hasn't always looked comfortable at No 5 since being given that role going into the matches against Pakistan. Rebuilding an innings and working out a total to aim at when England bat first are tricky tasks for a batsman who is happier hitting boundaries than fiddling ones and twos.

But Flintoff has time to learn. "Andrew Flintoff can be a very dangerous player and take the game away from opponents," said Fletcher.

"The only thing he has to learn a bit, like everyone, is how to develop shots that can make you most effective.

"On certain pitches you just can't play your natural game, you need to be a horses for courses player.

"You have to learn to play a certain way on some pitches and then, on others, you can play to your natural ability.

"I've always thought 'Freddie' could do that. We've pushed him for some time now and we have missed him when he's not been in the side. You can see our team has a totally different balance to it when he's playing."

South Africa, of course, have at least as many game-turners as England.

Herschelle Gibbs may have flopped five times in six innings during this competition, but that only makes him seem ever more dangerous. Jacques Kallis scarcely knows how to fail at the moment, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini lead the attack with passion and pace and Mark Boucher is among the game's most dangerous batsmenkeepers.

But if England want to identify a No1 dangerman tomorrow, they could do a lot worse than pinpoint Jacques Rudolph.

At 22, Rudolph is Jacques the lad.

But this is a young batsman with an abundance of class and a kitbag full of confidence - just like those two boys, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, who tormented England's bowlers at Lord's a year ago.

England (probable): M Trescothick, V Solanki, M Vaughan (capt), A McGrath, A Flintoff, R Clarke, C Read (wkt), A Giles, R Johnson, D Gough, J Anderson.

South Africa (probable): G Smith (capt), H Gibbs, J Kallis, A Hall, J Rudolph, M van Jaarsveld, M Boucher (wkt), S Pollock, P Adams, A Nel, M Ntini.

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