Undercooked England collapse again

England XI 225 (Langeveldt 5-48) and 154 for 7 (Vaughan 82*, Willoughby 3-47) lead South Africa A 281 (van Jaarsveld 71, Ontong 56, Morkel 47) by 98 runs
Scorecard

Michael Vaughan was at the crease for England at the close, unbeaten on 82 © Getty Images

One top-order aberration could be put down to ring-rustiness, but two in a single match smacks of carelessness. For the second day running at Potchefstroom, England's batting collapsed in a heap against South Africa A, leaving the team in severe danger of an embarrassing three-day defeat. With less than a week to go until the first Test at Port Elizabeth, all of their pre-series optimism has gone floating down the river Mooi.

Up until twenty minutes before tea, the day was looking quite promising for England. A spirited bowling performance had limited the South Africans to a first-innings lead of 56, and England seemed ready to set out their stall on a pitch that had flattened out since the first morning. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans. In a disastrous five-over spell before tea, England slumped to 3 for 3, and went on to lose four more wickets in the final session, with only the captain, Michael Vaughan, hanging around to man the barriers.

By the close, Vaughan was still there on 82, a innings of phlegmatic serenity that was reminiscent of his effort at Johannesburg on Test debut four years ago, when England were reduced to 2 for 4 by Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. The destroyers on this occasion, however, were nowhere near such a potent pairing. Instead Charl Willoughby and Ethy Mbhalati stuck to the basics of line, length and a modicum of movement, and let England's lack of application do the rest.

Charl Willoughby congratulated for Mark Butcher's dismissal just before tea © Getty Images

The first of their victims was Marcus Trescothick, who had scratched around for a 43-ball 7 in the first innings. He lasted just five more balls second-time around, before being pinned plumb lbw in Willoughby's first over. And then Andrew Strauss, with a fluent 50 to his name already, turned Mbhalati straight into the hands of JP Duminy at short-leg, to fall for a six-ball duck.

The worst, however, was yet to come for England. Mark Butcher, who was in desperate need of some time in the middle after his two failures on the tour so far, had faced just ten balls by the time he was adjudged lbw by umpire Karl Hurtur, again for a duck. There was more than a hint of inside-edge in the decision, but no matter. England's selectors now face a tricky decision - should they risk Butcher, or persevere with the in-form Robert Key, the man who replaced him when he was injured last summer?

Graham Thorpe at least showed some signs of fluency in his brief stay - he rasped an Mbhalati half-volley through the covers for four, but was then beaten by a ball that kept a fraction low and bowled off the inside-edge by Willoughby. At 29 for 4, Vaughan was joined by Andrew Flintoff, just as he had been at Jo'burg five years ago, and together they wiped out what remained of the deficit with a series of counterattacking cuts and pulls.

Albie Morkel clipped Andrew Flintoff's off stump with his fifth delivery © Getty Images

But a change in the South African bowling attack ended that brief flurry of runs. Albie Morkel struck with his fifth delivery, clipping Flintoff's off bail as he played down the wrong line (64 for 5), and for the second innings running, Geraint Jones arrived at the crease with England in all sorts of bother. He did his best to provide Vaughan with support, cracking five fours in an hour-long stay, but when Mbhalati returned to the attack, Jones feathered a lifting delivery through to Mark Boucher, to depart for 26 from 47 balls.

Mbhalati then blotted his copy-book off the very next delivery, as he dropped Vaughan at fine leg, but by then the damage had been done. Ashley Giles was unable to stick around in his now-customary manner, as Martin van Jaarsveld snapped him up at second slip off Alfonso Thomas, but Matthew Hoggard did his bit, clinging on in the fading light as England closed on 154 for 7.

For the first two sessions, it had looked like being England's day, as their bowlers enjoyed precisely the sort of workout they needed ahead of the Port Elizabeth Test. Flintoff extracted some menacing bounce with his heavy-limbed action to pocket three scalps in a brisk spell before lunch, and though the rest of the attack took their time to click through the gears, each of them picked up at least one wicket, with Simon Jones cleaning up the tail in perfunctory fashion. For South Africa, van Jaarsveld top-scored with a fine 71, and Morkel cracked two sixes and six fours in an entertaining 47 from 48 balls, but it was with the ball that they really did their talking.