But while a large slice of England's troubles can be explained away by the absence of Andrew Flintoff - a true and inspirational all-rounder at every level of the game - the hosts would be in a lot better shape if their openers had made a decent mark on this competition.
When Vaughan and Trescothick get cracking, England seem to almost always prosper. At Trent
Bridge last Sunday, though, they were both back in the pavilion with only two runs on the board and, at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday, England found themselves trying to rebuild their innings from 30 for two.
One argument is that you shouldn't put the side's two best batsmen where they are most likely to be undone by the new white ball, especially when conditions are damp and overcast. But if Vaughan and Trescothick cannot survive against seam and swing bowling, why should anyone else do any better?
Their double demise at Chester-le-Street was particularly grim. The boundaries were just starting to flow when Trescothick, apparently high on adrenaline, tried to hit Jacob Oram over mid-wicket instead of playing straight.
Vaughan's departure next over looked less gruesome. There was still too big a gap between bat and pad for James Franklin to find, however.
"We gave away a few loose wickets and Tres will be the first to admit he probably chose the wrong option," said Vaughan. "Once you lose two early wickets it's always very hard for the middle order to drag it back." Trescothick has had more highs than lows as an England player since launching his Test career some four years ago.
However, he never seems to go too long without having to re-prove himself as a batsman of the highest order. When the Somerset left-hander came to Headingley early last month he had just been criticised, as a Test player, by Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne. But Trescothick's response was an innings of 132 to set up a series-clinching victory over New Zealand.
Today, Vaughan and Trescothick were looking for a similarly defiant response.
