England captain Michael Vaughan is bowled by Australia's Shaun Tait during their Cricket World Cup Super Eight match in St. John's, Antigua, on Sunday. - Reuters

JOLLY HARBOUR, Antigua (Reuters):

England captain Michael Vaughan has said his side is almost the finished article but after another World Cup defeat to Australia on Sunday, it is hard for many observers to take him seriously.

The seven-wicket defeat was England's third in the competition after reverses against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

While they can still make the semi-finals with wins over Bangladesh, South Africa and West Indies in the Super Eights, the fact they have only won against Canada, Kenya and Ireland and have yet to beat a Test side suggests clear problems.

"We are very, very close to being a really good one-day team," Vaughan told reporters after losing to Australia. "We are just not winning critical periods and doing enough during the whole game to win the match."

EXCELLENT PLATFORM

Kevin Pietersen, who scored England's first century of the tournament, and Ian Bell gave the side an excellent platform against Australia but they tumbled to 247 all out when a score around 300 had looked likely.

Ricky Ponting then hit 86 to lead his side to their target with 16 balls remaining.

"One hundred and sixty-four-2 was an unbelievable position to be in against Australia but we just didn't hammer home the advantage," Vaughan added.

The skipper himself is in terrible form with the bat an he has just returned from a year out of international cricket with knee trouble, he looks a pale shadow of a once great timer of the ball.

USUAL VERVE

Andrew Flintoff has also yet to get a score and has lost his usual verve since being stripped of the vice-captaincy and banned for a game earlier in the tournament because of a drunken night out.

His stumping off Australia spinner Brad Hogg on Sunday suggested a man groping for any kind of batting form.

England brought in Andrew Strauss for struggling Ed Joyce on Sunday but the ploy failed as a rusty Strauss fell cheaply.

At least Ian Bell's promotion to opener worked as he hit 77 but it was the exploits of another opening batsman on the other side of the Atlantic that got people talking.

Marcus Trescothick, who has not played for England since September because of a stress-related illness, hit 256 for county side Somerset in a preseason match on Sunday.

He was never considered for this tournament and may never play for England again after pulling out of two tours but how Vaughan would love his powerful hitting here.

Absent friends in the bowling department may enter Vaughan's mind too. Test strike bowler Steve Harmison retired from one-dayers before the World Cup and his wayward nature might not have suited England on the slow Caribbean pitches.

But Matthew Hoggard, discarded from the one-day team because of batting and fielding limitations, would have been much more consistent with line and length than the inexperienced pace attack of James Anderson and Sajid Mahmood.

Fellow paceman Simon Jones would certainly have been at the World Cup if he had not been working his way back from a serious knee injury.

Stuart Broad, a 20-year-old fast bowler flown out after Jon Lewis went home to his pregnant wife, may now get a chance against Bangladesh in Barbados on Wednesday.