Vaughan challenges players

Michael Vaughan is challenging his one-day team to follow in the footsteps of Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison - and haul England all the way to the summit of world cricket.

Flintoff seems certain to miss tomorrow's opening NatWest triangular tournament match against New Zealand at Old Trafford because of a foot injury while Harmison hasn't pulled up too many trees yet in a limited-overs career restricted to 11 appearances.

But all-rounder Flintoff and fast bowler Harmison have taken Test cricket by storm since Vaughan became England's captain 12 months ago and should serve as perfect examples of what can be achieved.

"This is a great opportunity for people to make their mark," said Vaughan, looking ahead to not only tomorrow's day-nighter but also the entire NatWest Series against New Zealand and the West Indies.

"I just look at the last year or so and players like Freddie and Harmy have really taken their game to another level. It's down to a number of other players to do exactly the same."

England's stated aim is to be the best team in the world, at both forms of the game, by 2007. They are making swifter progress at Test level, even though last summer saw them win the NatWest Series by outperforming Zimbabwe and South Africa and triumph in the NatWest Challenge with a 2-1 success against Pakistan.

Now pre-tournament favourites New Zealand and a dangerously unpredictable West Indies side should really stretch them - especially if Flintoff misses several games and key batsman Marcus Trescothick fails to recover quickly from a sprained ankle.

"New Zealand are a very good oneday team and very experienced," said Vaughan of an outfit that won nine of 11 one-day internationals against Pakistan and South Africa this year.

"But we've beaten good sides who have been full of experience over the last year, like South Africa and Pakistan, and we can do the same to the New Zealanders."

By now, England ought to have made up their minds about fringe players like Ian Blackwell and Anthony McGrath. But too much rain during the winter, first in Sri Lanka and then in the Caribbean, washed out five onedayers and interfered with others.

Blackwell, McGrath and the recalled Robert Key will hope for opportunities during this series and there could be openings as well for late recruits Rikki Clarke and Michael Powell.

But it is the likes of Paul Collingwood, Andrew Strauss, Geraint Jones and Jimmy Anderson who are best placed to make big impressions.

"We keep talking about building but you can win games while you're building," said Vaughan. "When you play against good teams you have to up your performance and we'll need to do that against New Zealand tomorrow.

"But this is a great opportunity to get the series off to a good start."

Cricket bosses, meanwhile, will attempt to make Old Trafford a football-free zone for fans tomorrow night.

Captain Michael Vaughan has already confessed that his team will have "one eye" on events in Portugal. But while the TV in England's dressing room may be tuned to the football, screens elsewhere around the ground will remain blank. If rain interrupts play, however, then the game will be shown on the giant replay screen.