Centurion: New England coach Duncan Fletcher had predicted the day before that his side was about to face what he thought would be the tours sixth Test.

By the end of the first day he would have no doubt wished he had not gazed too deeply into the crystal as having shown the sort of batting backbone often missing from modern England teams the tourists innings was suddenly undone by the second new ball late in the afternoon.

In the end they struggled to reach a passable first days total of 238 for six having at one stage been placed on 218 for three against the combined Northerns/Gauteng XI at SuperSport Park.

Just as Fletcher must have been seriously thinking of acknowledging a good day?s performance against a near Test bowling attack, he saw the innings crumble. While one of the six to fall was Andy Caddick, who although hardly a rabbit was sent in as night watchman, the ploy failed as he became one of three lbw victims.

It was David Terbrugge, who five days ago help destroy Sri Lanka As batting at the scenic Centurion venue, chipped in with two late wickets and Steve Elworthy finally bagged Michael Vaughans wicket for 85, the second of the three late wickets to fall, who shared the spoils. And this after Greg Smith was finally rewarded with Mike Athertons wicket with a yorker for 81.

The tourists would have been in a worse plight had Chris Adams not been dropped off the bowling of Terbrugge shortly after the new ball was taken with the England XI score at 218 for four. It may be a costly error as at 225 for four and the new ball only a couple of overs old, the soft underbelly of the batting order may have been seriously exposed.

At first England?s tourists could not have asked for a better stage where to put together a fairly convincing batting performance on a day of unfolding drama and where early on the bowlers did not have a lot of luck, especially Elworthy and Smith.

The lads who did what they could to take the micky out of the bowling attack, though were both born in Manchester yet play for opposing counties with more than a century of rivalry: Mike Atherton and Michael Vaughan regarded as Englands main tour batting prop on this second England tour of South Africa since readmission.

As Vaughan, bidding for his first Test cap, explained, both he and Atherton had to dig in and rebuild the innings after the first two wickets fell in the first hour. And with the sort of bowling which refused to be dominated, the two northerners had their work cut out to bat through a difficult period.

Vaughan, being a Yorkshireman, is also big enough to acknowledge the important role which Atherton played in helping him build his innings. His calm assurance and composed style may not please every one but it came at a time the innings was in trouble and needed someone to assert a form of mastery over a bowling attack which relied on swing and seam to upset the batting equilibrium and put Vaughan on trial.

``It was tricky out there,'' he said. ``There was movement and steep bounce at times. Not at all easy to bat and then expect to dominate. It just was not on.''

The 25-year-old Yorkshire opener who normally opens the batting for his county has batted at four so far on his tour and his innings of five hours yesterday would do him any harm either: 10 fours, a couple of them sweet drives, had the class expected of a Yorkshire batsman.

No one could really grumble about Athertons effort either: a shade over four hours for 81 before falling to the Smith delivery. Yet it was a day luck deserted the seamers Elworthy, Smith and Terbrugge and although there may be a grumble in the England XI dressingroom about Vaughan?s decision, the hard, honest work of the bowlers lacked the rewards they deserved and Elworthy is no doubt wondering why a return of one for 67 should really have been four for 50.

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