"I think you'll find Andrew Strauss is doing pretty well at No4," was one rather terse comment when the subject was raised again ahead of a game which will be England's last in this season's competition if they lose it. True enough.
Strauss has been England's most consistent batsman of a generally low-scoring tournament, managing contributions of 43, eight, 44 not out and 61.
But plenty of folk - middle order Test maestro Graham Thorpe among them - believe the team would be better served by Vaughan and Strauss swopping places.
The truth is, though, that Vaughan has not yet been able to make a decent mark on the international oneday stage no matter where he's batted.
Today's match was his 49th limitedovers international-spread across three-and-a-half
During that time he has batted in every position from opener to No5. And yet, inexplicably, Vaughan brought an average of just 24 to Lord's - with only seven 50s and a top score of 83.
In theory, at least, the Yorkshire batsman's method is perfectly suited to the short game.
Simply by performing the way he does at Test level, Vaughan ought to prosper with the best of the one-day run-makers. But it just hasn't happened for him - yet.
"My form is obviously a concern because I'm at the top of the order and I'm not scoring many runs," he said.
"In the last three games I've made 12, 14 and 12 so I've got in and then just got out.
"But I know there's a big score around the corner and if I keep doing the basics right, I know I'm a good enough player to turn it around.
"Players go through these kind of periods. You just have to accept it, get on with it and work a little bit harder. That's exactly what I'm doing."
At least England have not been alone in trying to work out their best batting line-up through this tournament.
The West Indies are in exactly the same position - regularly changing personnel and order of appearance in the middle.
"On occasions, we have played brilliantly but maybe more times than not we don't seem to get our act together," said West Indies captain Brian Lara.
So far, the team batting second has won all five NatWest matches that have ended in positive results, suggesting-that starting off against the white ball in English conditions is a sure-fire recipe for defeat.
"Conditions are slightly in favour of teams batting second," agreed Lara. "But we haven't seen New Zealand bat first and I still feel that both England and us have inexperience in some very vital positions in our batting orders."
England have never won a limitedovers international batting first, home or away, since Vaughan became captain last year.
But if they lose today, whether setting a target or chasing one, then Saturday's final in front of a sell-out Lord's crowd will be between New Zealand and the West Indies.
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