Vaughan fails in final bid to find top form

The England Test captain, who endured a barren series with the bat in New Zealand despite England's 2-1 victory, returned to county cricket with Yorkshire at the start of April but has been unable to register a decent score.

The Friends Provident Trophy match against Durham was Vaughan's final opportunity before the return series against the Kiwis begins next week.

But he had made just 22 when he was caught by the England one-day captain off the bowling of Graham Onions, who will play for the England Lions against New Zealand at the Rose Bowl from Thursday.

The failure means that Vaughan has scored 135 runs in seven innings for Yorkshire this season at an average of 18 and will go into the first Test at Lord's facing similar questions over his run-making capabilities as were posed last year before his return to the England side for the second Test against the West Indies.

On that occasion he answered them spectacularly with a century on his home ground and produced one of his finest innings for England in the second Test against India later last summer at Trent Bridge.

Vaughan's form this season has followed a familiar pattern to much of his batting since he returned from serious injury, with the England captain looking fluent and making good starts before throwing it away in apparently losing concentration.

In the circumstances it is perhaps fortunate for Vaughan that England are thinking of selecting Andrew Flintoff to bat at seven and form part of a four-man attack at Lord's rather than return at the expense of a member of the top six.

At least Vaughan was able to take a close look at the man whose Test career he may have ended when he dropped him ahead of the second Test against New Zealand at Wellington in March.

Steve Harmison said at the weekend that he would retire from all cricket if he was unable to reclaim his England place this season.

He showed that perhaps he should not be written off just yet by taking three of the five wickets to fall in Yorkshire's comfortable victory in the northern group.

Elsewhere in the north, there was embarrassment for Lancashire, who failed to overhaul Scotland's modest 155 by two runs despite Kyle Hogg's unbeaten 66.

Flintoff was another England man who again struggled to make runs but his superlative bowling form continued with two more economical wickets.

The day's big southern group match was a tale of Kolpaks as Kent thrashed Surrey by 90 runs at the Brit Oval.

Justin Kemp, cleared last week to play for Kent after originally being blocked by the ECB, hit 63.

His side recovered from a poor start caused mainly by Surrey's new Kolpak man Pedro Collins, who ended with four for 46, to reach 282 for seven.

Surrey were never in the hunt as Ryan McLaren, perhaps the best of the many Kolpak players plying their trade in England, ripped through their much-vaunted batting to end with five for 46.

Sussex have signed West Indian bowler Corey Collymore on a Kolpak contract to replace Australian Ryan Harris, who embarrassed the county champions by signing for them and then admitting that he had joined Queensland as a non-overseas player as well.

New Zealand found bowling form yesterday when they defeated Essex by 92 runs in their penultimate match before the first Test.

Essex went into the final day at Chelmsford well placed to embarrass the Black Caps but subsided meekly to 200 all out,

fringe bowlers Michael Mason and Iain O'Brien taking three wickets apiece.