Vaughan in right place for recovery

Trent Bridge will always be a special place for Michael Vaughan. It was at this ground 12 months ago that his potential as a batsman rose from good to great. The England captain had already scored three Test centuries before travelling to Nottingham in 2002, but it was his brilliant innings of 197 against India that made everyone realise what a talent he is.

A year later and with five further big hundreds to his name, Vaughan now has the extra weight of captaincy on his shoulders. After two one-sided Test matches against South Africa - the second of which led to a humiliating defeat at Lord's by an innings and 92 runs - the confidence of England's players is understandably low. Vaughan's biggest task in his second game in charge will not be to better his feat of a year ago - although it would be helpful - but to make his players once again believe they can perform at this level.

Should the Lancastrian manage to achieve this during the next five days, and get England back into this five-Test series with a win, then Trent Bridge may well be viewed as the place where he came of age as a captain as well as a batsman.

It may sound absurd after what has taken place over the past three weeks but these two teams are actually quite evenly matched. In the same manner that the NatWest Series final did not give a true reflection of the relative strengths of the sides, neither did the second Test at Lord's. England were awful. This is a fact that not even the England coach, Duncan Fletcher, could deny. But this was a matter of confidence rather than the ability of the players.

Confidence among sportsmen is the hardest element to control because it comes and goes for no apparent reason. Vaughan and England will be hoping this vital part of their players' game returns as quickly as it disappeared. And it could, should England knock over Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs early this morning. All of a sudden the horrors of a fortnight ago would be nothing more than a distant memory.

The England captain accepted that dismissing Smith, his opposite number, cheaply was his side's major concern. "We've got a decent plan," said Vaughan, talking about the man who has already scored 621 runs at an average of 207 in this series. "But once you have plans you have to bowl to them. I think the bowlers would agree we have not yet bowled to these plans quite as well as we could have done. We created opportunities that we failed to take when he was on eight and if we had, nobody would have been talking about it.

"We have a plan against him like we do against all their players, and all our attention won't just be on Graeme Smith because they have world-class players all the way down. We are going to have to up our performance. It is a team game but it is also up to individuals to stick their hand up - to try and get that big 100 or that big haul of wickets in the match."

After looking at the pitch on Tuesday, England decided to dispense with the services of Gareth Batty. The Worcestershire off-spinner, who was brought into the squad in case the pitch looked dry, was released and played for his county at Scarborough yesterday. With the Kent batsman Ed Smith certain to make his debut, England's only other selection problem concerns James Kirtley and Glen Chapple. With continuity being a key part of the England set-up, Kirtley, the Sussex fast bowler, should be preferred to his team-mate from Lancashire.

England's only fitness doubt is Marcus Trescothick. The Somerset opener, who fractured the tip of his right index finger at Edgbaston, batted in the last two Test matches but is still suffering discomfort. Trescothick is expected to play, but the Middlesex opener Andrew Strauss has been put on standby.

The wicket at Trent Bridge will play a major part in this game. Historically, the dead surface has been kind to batsmen, but recent pitches have tended to crack up and give the bowlers something to work with. Results rather than draws have become a more regular feature.

The recent hot spell will not have helped the groundsman with his preparations and its colour - a darkish brown - suggests there is still some moisture in it. The nature of the pitch makes for a difficult decision if the toss is won. In the end, it should be a batsman's decision and the question should be what would you rather face: a ball that seams and swings around a bit on the first day or one that goes up and down on the fourth or fifth? Most would agree that the best decision in such circumstances is to bat first.

South Africa's only fitness concern is Gary Kirsten, their No 3 batsman, who was struck on the arm playing against Kent earlier in the week. Kirsten has had a pain-killing injection and the tourists will wait until this morning to make a final decision on the veteran left-hander. If Kirsten were to miss out, Neil McKenzie would come into the side and Boeta Dippenaar would bat at three.

Kirsten's absence, however, would be more than made up by the return of Jacques Kallis, who has rejoined the Test squad following the death of his father. The world's leading all-rounder will replace Dewald Pretorius, who sprained his right thigh during the victory at Lord's.

ENGLAND (from): M P Vaughan (Yorkshire, capt), M E Trescothick (Somerset), M A Butcher (Surrey), N Hussain (Essex), E T Smith (Kent), A J Stewart (Surrey, wkt), A Flintoff (Lancashire), A F Giles (Warwickshire), S J Harmison (Durham), J M Anderson (Lancashire), R J Kirtley (Sussex), G Chapple (Lancashire).

SOUTH AFRICA (from): G C Smith (capt), H H Gibbs, G Kirsten, J H Kallis, H H Dippenaar, J A Rudolph, M V Boucher (wkt), S M Pollock, A J Hall, P R Adams, M Ntini, D Pretorius.

Umpires: D B Hair (Aus), D J Harper (Aus).