BBC SPORT | Cricket | Fresh options for England

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew reflects on England's successful tour of Zimbabwe.

It has been difficult throughout this series to assess precisely how much progress England have made because Zimbabwe have been so dreadful.

I honestly believe that most counties would beat this Zimbabwe team, so while England have done all they can and won every game convincingly, they have done so without being stretched in the least.

Nick Knight was named the Man of the Series, and he thoroughly deserved it.

He and Marcus Trescothick have formed a very positive opening partnership and while they won't find it as easy to smash Glenn McGrath over his head, as Trescothick dealt with Douglas Hondo several times, they are both players who are capable of hitting the ball over the infield, without resorting to slogging.

Nick Knight batting against Zimbabwe
Knight: More than 300 runs in the series

This is crucial early on with the field restrictions in place, and also because England's middle order, with the exception of Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood, are more cautious.

Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher will go straight into a selection meeting when their flight arrives at Heathrow on Monday morning.

They will choose a 16-man squad for the one day series in India and New Zealand after Christmas, and they will be able to draw on the knowledge they have acquired in Zimbabwe.

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The likes of Andy Caddick, Darren Gough Craig White and Ashley Giles - if fit - will be called up, but the bulk of the party will be made up of players who have been on tour here.

I would imagine that Knight, Trescothick, Hussain and Thorpe will be the definite batting selections with Flintoff, Collingwood and Hollioake, who bowled well here, as the all-rounders.

Joining Gough and Caddick we can expect to see Hoggard and, possibly, James Ormond while Snape and Giles will bowl well in Indian conditions.

Andy Caddick takes a wicket against Sri Lanka
Caddick is likely to be recalled

One talking point is certain to be the wicket-keeping situation and, specifically, how many will be needed in a place where people frequently become suddenly ill.

There is no one else in the squad who can keep wicket well enough to act as a stand in so, if it were up to me, I would include Warren Hegg along with James Foster, just in case.

That leaves a few players sweating on the sidelines. The most notable is Mark Ramprakash who I was surprised to see preferred to Graham Thorpe in the final match at Bulawayo.

This can only be because the selectors are still not sure if Ramprakash is suited to this type of cricket and his brief innings would not have answered their questions.

James Kirtley, who has to work on his bowling action, and Ryan Sidebottom will probably lose out because of the return of Gough and Caddick while poor Owais Shah came all the way out here to face only two balls.

I cannot work out what has happened to him, because he played so confidently in the summer's NatWest Series, but seems to have been shoved to one side.

If it comes down to a choice of Shah or Ramprakash, I would go for Shah as he remains a player of great promise for the future.


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