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Vaughan admits Test place is under threat

03/08/2008

England captain Michael Vaughan has admitted his place in the Test side is under threat following a poor series against South Africa.

Vaughan scored a century against New Zealand at the start of the summer which lifted the pressure on him somewhat, but recent performances have put him under scrutiny again.

The Yorkshireman is averaging just eight against South Africa in the last three Tests and has a highest score of 21.

Until two days ago Paul Collingwood's under-performing was taking much of the attention away from Vaughan's failings. But since then the Durham player has notched a heroic ton while trying to get England back into the third Test and the focus has moved back on to Vaughan.

Having now lost the series Vaughan has admitted that as the number three batsman in the side his performances need to improve.

"I have no doubts about my captaincy ability, absolutely none," said Vaughan.

"But I am not scoring runs. As a number three batsman I have got to score runs and in this series what have I got?"

Vaughan, who got a golden duck in the first innings at Edgbaston, says he has been the victim of some good bowling but feels that he has not lived up to his own expectations of himself.

He said: "I have had some good balls, a little bit of bad luck, but I set myself a lot of high standards and in this series I have not got anywhere near those standards, so I want to look at that and make sure I get back to playing like I can."

The 33-year-old said he would analyse his game and try and come up with a way of getting back into form.

He added: "You have to deliver out in the middle. I am an experienced player and at the minute I am not delivering, so I will have to come up with a formula to give myself the best chance to deliver when the pressure is on."