Paul Collingwood will find it hard to get into the swing at Third Test at Trent Bridge

Next Thursday, their bid to end an 11-match sequence of under-achievement moves on to the third and final npower Test at Trent Bridge where three championship matches have produced just one century.

Apart from Matt Prior's brilliant innings of 131 for Sussex during a low-scoring game with Notts, swing bowlers have ruled.

That should be good news for England's likely pace attack of Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, but it is unlikely to fill vulnerable batsmen Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell with great confidence.

By this time last year, Notts' had compiled championship totals at Trent Bridge of 500, 475 and 664 for seven declared. This season, the average first innings score - for hosts and visitors - over three games is just 213 and no side has reached 300 in 10 completed innings.

"The ball has swung quite a bit in all those matches," said Notts groundsman Steve Birks. "The weather has been very similar - cloudy and humid a lot of the time - and it is possible that a new building development at the ground has also had an effect."

With the forecast for next week suggesting that thunderstorms are likely, conditions could again be ideal for swing bowling. England are well equipped, but New Zealand can compete in that department through Kyle Mills, Tim Southee and Iain O'Brien.

It was spinner Monty Panesar and opener Andrew Strauss who did most to save Vaughan's men at Old Trafford last weekend. And, after a six-wicket win, the selectors are widely tipped to name an unchanged 12 for Trent Bridge on Sunday morning. Captain Vaughan and coach Peter Moores have already publicly backed Collingwood, who still looked out of form while making an unbeaten 24 during England's Manchester run-chase, while Bell failed at Lord's and Old Trafford but did hit a century against New Zealand on tour just three Tests ago.

However, selectors Geoff Miller, Ashley Giles, James Whitaker and Moores should still have devoted at least a decent proportion of this week's five-hour meeting to discussing Test team matters. Most of their time together would have been spent working out a one-day squad for the Twenty20 contest and five full internationals that follow the summer's first npower series. But, despite three wins from the last four matches, all is not rosy in the Test garden.

Collingwood's problems - 39 runs in seven innings for Durham and England before last Monday's scrambling effort - have been well documented but the batting unit as a whole has lacked confidence for much of the past year.

That was evident in New Zealand and obvious again during a wretched first innings at Old Trafford.

Perhaps the penny has finally dropped, however, because Vaughan's men were a lot more positive second time around as they pursued a stiff victory target of 294.

Trent Bridge, whatever the conditions, should reveal whether England are right to remain loyal to their top six when other candidates like Ravi Bopara, Rob Key and Owais Shah are knocking on the door.

Wicket-keeper Tim Ambrose is also under a bit of pressure after batting failures this series, but he will keep his place while England play just four bowlers which, with the hosts one up in the series, seems virtually certain.