England's increasing penchant for losing the plot in the middle of a one-day innings was a fairly innocuous diversion in India - chiefly because it didn't stop them sharing the series 3-3 - but after another spectacular collapse at Christchurch, it is a problem they need to address fast. Our graph shows England's average partnerships in their last four one-dayers: each time they have been given an outstanding platform by their second- and third-wicket pairs, and each time they have made a dog's dinner of it. Here they were 156 for 2 and slipped to 196 all out; at Mumbai 153 for 2 became 174 for 7; at Delhi 248 for 2 metamorphosed into 260 for 5; and at Kanpur 144 for 2 turned into 166 for 6 in the blink of an eye.

With an array of nudgers (Graham Thorpe, Paul Collingwood and Michael Vaughan) and biffers (Andrew Flintoff, Ben Hollioake and Craig White) England ostensibly have the ammunition to turn 150 for 2 in the 25th over into a 300-plus score. But something has got lost in the translation, and the frequency and familiarity of the collapses is a genuine concern.

On average in the last four games, England have slipped from 176 for 2 to 212 for 7, with the fourth, fifth and sixth wickets managing only 25 runs between them. This is crucial, as nothing slows the run rate quite like the tumble of timber. And even though the tail have chipped in with some useful runs, England have been increasingly inclined towards one-day cricket's most heinous crime - failing to bat out their overs. In the last 14 ODIs in which they've batted first, England have hung around to face the final ball on only six occasions.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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