Friday, 22 July 2011

Andy Flower powers England towards steady World Cup course

Do England want a fifth seam bowler, in which case Chris Tremlett might win a last-minute ticket as a back-up to England’s first-choice beanpole Stuart Broad? Or do they want to take Luke Wright for his ability to clear the ropes at the end of an innings?

On the Asian subcontinent, the hard truth is that the bowlers are usually there to make up the numbers. Even Graeme Swann conceded 6.5 runs per over on his last visit to India. And that might favour Wright, who is a good team man and a brilliant fielder.

The one concern would be if England stumbled across a genuinely quick pitch, and wanted to play all their seamers at once: Broad, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad. If someone went down with a bug on the morning of the match, there would be no cover unless Tremlett - or maybe even Chris Woakes? - could be squeezed into the squad at Wright’s expense.

“It’s good to have the taller bowlers in Asia,” England’s bowling coach, David Saker, said on Tuesday, “because if there is any bounce they will extract it. That sort of bowling, hitting back-of-a-length, is good for one-day cricket if you get your lines right. But it also becomes pretty monotonous, so the really good batters can make you pay.

“Glenn McGrath made a decent career out of it, and I think Chris Tremlett, if he develops a few more tricks, will be a super one-day bowler. He would be a good addition to the squad but we can only take so many bowlers to the World Cup so somebody will miss out.”

The batsmen look straightforward: the top six who played in Melbourne on Sunday night will go, plus Paul Collingwood, whose heebee-jeebies may well evaporate once he leaves Australia. The ball usually bounces and carries through here, whereas he prefers to play hockey with it, somewhere around his ankles.

As for the tweakers, the classical Swann and the ugly but effective Michael Yardy are likely to play in the majority of England’s games - not so much England’s spin twins as their odd couple. James Tredwell will be the insurance clause, though he probably owes his place to Samit Patel’s love of home cooking.

The final debate surrounds the wicketkeeping spot. England have been committed to an Adam Gilchrist-style keeper-batsman at the top of the order for the past year, but their initial preference - Craig Kieswetter - lost form last summer and with it the selectors’ faith.

The latest incumbent, Steven Davies, has shown flashes of inspiration, but still only has 10 England appearances to his name. That is a slim ration for a man who will be going in first in the World Cup, especially as local conditions favour top-loading the innings with a stack of early boundaries.

Teams who win in Asia usually have a powerful opening partnership, and England’s main rivals will have plenty of famous names on show: Graeme Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shane Watson. Among such company, a leading pair of Davies and Andrew Strauss could look a little anaemic.

Were Flower a gambling man, he might be tempted to shunt the burgeoning talent of Ian Bell up to No1, alongside Strauss, and move his wicketkeeper down to No 6.

Another possibility would be to recall Matt Prior, who has failed before at one-day level but just seems to have taken an extra level of belief from England’s triumphant year.

There is a case for such a reshuffle — a strong case even. But Flower is not one for ripping up the roadmap at the last minute.

Yes, he can be ruthless, as he has shown by dropping both Kevin Pietersen and Collingwood in recent months. But it is Flower’s consistency of vision that has established England’s winning culture, and given the players the sense of security that was evident in Hobart on Tuesday. If he sticks with Plan A, we should support him.

The probable party

*Andrew Strauss, †Steven Davies, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Paul Collingwood, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Michael Yardy, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, James Tredwell, Ajmal Shahzad.


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