AUSTRALIA teams have long recognised the importance of targeting the opposition captain but they are unlikely to have the opportunity this afternoon. Michael Vaughan is rated doubtful for the NatWest Series game at the Riverside because of the groin injury he suffered against Bangladesh on Tuesday evening and England see little point in risking a senior player so early in the Ashes summer.

Despite receiving lengthy ice treatment at Trent Bridge while his side completed a win by 168 runs, Vaughan was still in pain yesterday, with an ECB spokesman reporting that he will be reassessed today. Marcus Trescothick is preparing to lead the side in his absence and Vikram Solanki is a logical replacement at No 3.

Whether England would be seriously weakened by Vaughan’s absence is debatable. In his defence, his average of 32.08 as captain is almost four runs higher than his overall figure, he was man of the series in Zimbabwe during the winter and top-scored in the ICC Champions Trophy win against Australia last season, the most important one-day success of his stewardship.

But the prosecution also has a case. He is still to record a hundred in 69 one-day international matches and has scored only two in 241 one-day innings in his career. His 57 against Australia in the win at Bristol last Sunday spanned 92 balls. Unlike the rest of the top order he continued after making a start, but it took Kevin Pietersen to save him from criticism of stodginess that would have followed defeat.

In his guise as an opener, Vaughan was prone to be too aggressive too soon. It is always difficult to find the right tempo in the first 15 overs with fielding restrictions in place. His problem at No 3 has been piercing the inner ring. He does not scrape and scratch out runs in the ugly manner of Nasser Hussain, the former captain.

Yet the experience of Hussain ought to remind of the pitfalls of split captains. He never recovered true authority of the Test side once he retired from the one-day game after the 2003 World Cup. Regardless of the result this summer, England cannot afford to jeopardise enormous potential as a Test team by separating the captaincy roles again.

If Vaughan’s participation today is to be a straightforward decision once the selectors receive medical advice, then the composition of the bowling attack will require more thought. Darren Gough should return and Stephen Harmison will relish the opportunity to add to his five wickets at Bristol in front of a 15,000 home crowd. It then comes down to a choice between Jon Lewis and Chris Tremlett.

Tremlett made an impressive debut two days ago. He missed a hat-trick by a stroke of misfortune that appeared to defy physics, when Mohammad Ashraful defended a ball on to the top of his stumps without dislodging a bail. Today, however, the ability of Lewis to generate movement off the pitch may be a more potent weapon.

It fell to Michael Clarke yesterday to present the unconcerned face of Australia. A man who accepted Shane Warne’s No 23 shirt when the wrist-spin bowler retired from the one-day game was never likely to pervade anything but confidence. He laughed aside stories that some of the players had been spooked by ghosts at their Lumley Castle base for this game. “We heard the place was haunted so some of the boys have been playing a few pranks,” Clarke said.

The image of Shane Watson, who was not short of a few words at Bristol, rushing from his bedroom in fright is one for England to behold, but they can expect a tougher challenge today with Andrew Symonds available after suspension and Brett Lee recovered from injury.