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 | |  Wednesday, 27 February, 2002, 08:26 GMT Still uphill for England  BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew says that England still have some way to go to finalise their World Cup team. England's defeat at Dunedin will have come as a huge disappointment, not simply because the one day series was lost but, more crucially, New Zealand have now regained the upper hand before the Tests begin. It seemed that England had turned the tide with emphatic victories in Napier and Auckland but now New Zealand is brimming with confidence once again.
The upshot of Gough's return is that Andy Caddick will have to stand up and take responsibility. He is always quick to talk a good game, but now he needs to prove that he is capable of taking the lead himself, rather than depending on the openings created by others. That is all a fortnight away and there are still several questions to be answered as a result of England's one-day foray that took in 11 matches on two continents in little over a month. It was a manic schedule, but a worthwhile exercise not least because it should prove that they are miles away from completing their likely World Cup squad. Batting order Of the 15 players in this group, I would suggest that only seven, possibly eight, could reckon on appearing in England's opening match in Harare next year. Trescothick, Thorpe and Vaughan are the main contributors with the bat as are Gough, Flintoff and Giles with the ball.
And that is the most overriding problem at the moment: where to bat the skipper? He will point to his average and his strike rate since the start of the winter in Zimbabwe, and it is true that they have improved. But there are still simply too many deliveries that, at number three, he fails to score from; his innings at Eden Park - where he scored 17 from 34 balls and scored from only seven of them - was a classic example. Unless he can learn to rotate the strike by nudging singles - like Thorpe does - he will have to drop down the order. late innings woe Flintoff has come on in leaps and bounds with the ball this winter, but his approach with the bat still beggars belief at times. Unfortunately this means that England are still searching for a man who can add impetus to the innings in the last 10 overs and who can be relied upon not to give his wicket away needlessly again.
The jury is still out on Collingwood. There have been glimpses of potential - he batted very well in Cuttack and bowled tidily in Napier. In between he has been easily scored off and made little impression at number five and six. His fielding has been outstanding throughout, though, and for that reason alone, Duncan Fletcher will be keen to persevere with him. Here in Sydney - where England's defeat in Dunedin did not warrant even a single paragraph in the Sydney Morning Herald - England's Academy has just beaten its Australian equivalent with Ian Bell emerging, once again, as the top scorer. Rod Marsh positively purrs about him and I would not rule out Bell being fast-tracked as soon as the new season begins in order to prepare him for the 2003 World Cup. | |
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