Franklin exploits England's soft underbelly

After England's woeful batting performance against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Sunday, Chris Cairns rubbed his hands at the prospect of exploiting England's "soft underbelly". Well, New Zealand, led by the impressive James Franklin, tickled it pink as England again belly-flopped to a miserable defeat in front of a packed Durham crowd, who were robbed of a rare glimpse of international cricket.

Franklin, who took a one-day best of 5 for 42, was charging in for a Lancashire League side earlier this month, and his belated inclusion has been a catalyst in transforming New Zealand's tour. England have had trouble with his type before: once again they've come unstuck against a lively left-arm seamer.

There were signs of his potential at Trent Bridge in the third Test, and today, his swing and pace made an already suspect batting line-up look even more ordinary. Before this NatWest Series, Franklin's last one-dayer was back in April 2002, but his performance today will surely have booked his place in the team for a while longer, even if the batsmen didn't do themselves any favours.

On a juicy pitch and under overcast skies, England somehow misread the situation spectacularly, and played right into Stephen Fleming's hands. Considering the fragility of their middle order, England's opening partnership of Trescothick and Vaughan is crucial. However, for the second time in the series, it was more Mork and Mindy than Marcus and Michael. Trescothick set the tone with his needless swipe across the line, and Vaughan, with just one half-century in his last 12 one-dayers, surprisingly went for the big drive to an inswinger which required fuller attention.

What followed was as predictable as an England football team in a penalty shoot-out. Geraint Jones and Andrew Strauss, with all of ten one-dayers between them, fell to some ill-advised attacking shots, and Paul Collingwood - England's forgotten man of late - played an unmemorable swish outside off. As for Anthony McGrath and Ian Blackwell, well even that old smiler Bob Willis said he expected an early finish with the likes of those two in the side. And he was right.

It's all a very different picture from just three weeks ago, when a cock-a-hoop England were popping the champers on the Trent Bridge balcony: now they are reaching for the painkillers. As soon as they put on their pyjamas, it seems as if the English mind goes to sleep. Not just the players, but the selectors as well. Playing on a seaming track after a big defeat, the powers-that-be astonishingly replaced an allrounder, Rikki Clarke, with a spinner, Ashley Giles. Surely this result will mean an outing for Robert Key, whose early-season form is quickly evaporating in the pavilion.

As they usually do, New Zealand look more comfortable in black rather than white, which isn't surprising if you take the Bracewell factor into account. One win in their last ten Tests compared to 10 in 12 one-dayers tells its own story, and so does the fact that John Bracewell, their coach, guided Gloucestershire to seven limited-overs titles between 1999 and 2003.

At least the crowd had the chance to cheer their local hero, Steve Harmison, who provided some atmosphere with three wickets as England limped to defeat. The entire crowd came to see one person, and at least he didn't let anyone down. But you can't say the same for England's batsmen.