Big problem for England

[Tormented]

Hey this is my first post on the forum and I hope no one has already touched on this topic but I was reading a lot of stuff about how things went wrong for England in the first test and there's definately one problem some of the Batsmen are facing, especially Vaughan. The fact that Vaughan got cleaned bowled in both innings would have shattered his confidence as a batsmen. I dunno if many of you have played cricket but getting cleaned bowled is probably the worst way to be dismissed. I realise some of the aussies got bowled as well, like Hayden and Clarke but Hayden was bowled playing a very attacking pull shot and Clarke was also bowled playing a very aggressive cover drive. Both chopped the ball onto their stumps which isnt anywhere near as bad. You can always tell yourself "hey I made a mistake tryin to smash that cover drive I better stay more patient next innings". It's not as demoralising to get out while trying to be over aggressive.

The likes of Flintoff in the first innings and Vaughan in both innings got out trying to hopelessly defend a ball and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Thats a painfull blow to a batsmens confidence. I think England's biggest concern right now should be the confidence of their batsmen (Pietersen being the exception). The next time Vaughan comes out to bat he's going to be worried about McGrath nippin one back onto the stumps....there's no doubt about that.

Before you all jump in to remind me about how Vaughan was unlucky and got one that stayed low...I'm not disputing that. What I am saying is that the fact that it happened and he got cleaned bowled will be very damaging to his confidence.