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| England player ratings BBC Sport Online assesses the England Test team's performances in the home series against India. Nasser Hussain Having beaten Sri Lanka 2-0 earlier in the summer, Hussain had to be satisfied with a 1-1 draw against India, but that was no disgrace bearing in mind England's injury problems. Although his tactics in the field at The Oval were called into question, Hussain enjoyed an excellent series with the bat, scoring centuires in the first and third Tests. Marcus Trescothick Missed the first three Tests against India owing to injuries, but two half centuries at The Oval underlined the free-scoring opener's importance to the England side. Still only 26, his partnership with Michael Vaughan promises plenty of runs in years to come. Michael Vaughan England's success story of the summer after collecting four centuries against Sri Lanka and India. Has a more orthodox technique than opening partner Trescothick but is also a fluent scorer. The forthcoming Ashes series in Australia will, however, provide a true measure of Vaughan's advance. Robert Key Replacing the injured Trescothick for the second and third Tests, the Kent opener failed to stake a long-term claim but did enough to mark the selectors' cards for the future. He will have to iron out his tendency to push too hard with the bottom hand - a flaw that saw him always in danger of being caught at slip. The less said about his own slip catching, which saw three chances dropped during India's 628 at Headingley, the better. Mark Butcher Failed to produce anything remarkable following surgery on his knee and was dismissed five times in six innings by India's spinners. Opened the batting at Lord's in the absence of Marcus Trescothick, but contributed two fifties after reverting to his now regular number three slot. Tipped as a future England captain by Mike Atherton and Graham Gooch, although Marcus Trescothick remains favourite to take over when Nasser Hussain calls it a day. John Crawley Crawley's form tailed off after an excellent start to the series at Lord's where he made scores of 64 and 100 not out in a 170-run victory. A sound player of spin, he found the Indian seam attack more of a threat Alec Stewart The elder statesman of the England line-up at 39 years of age, Stewart shows no sign of letting his standards slip with either bat or ball. After a quiet match at Lord's, he went on to hit 87, 78 not out and then 47 in the next three innings, fully justifying his position at number six. Andrew Flintoff Following a half-century in the first Test, it was all downhill for Flintoff's batting, 40 runs coming in four further innings, including a pair at Headingley before he went for hernia surgery. But his five wickets are not a fair reflection of a bowler who carried a heavy burden of overs and menaced with pace. Craig White Almost forgotten as an international all-rounder at the start of the summer, White's stock has risen again. A half-century at Lord's and 94 not out at Trent Bridge make up for his loss of bite in the attack but he has still proved a useful back-up bowler. With Flintoff's injury he could have played an even bigger role in the third and fourth Tests, but was himself victim of a side strain. Dominic Cork His bowling never really came to fruition, his swing all to predictable on the generally good tracks at Trent Bridge and The Oval. Hit his third Test half-century at The Oval, an important one as it turned out, but it his bowling that should be his primary asset, and he simply is not producing wicket-taking balls. Alex Tudor By far the most naturally-athletic of England's seam-bowling options, Tudor had had a long injury lay-off before appearing in the Headingley Test. But both there and at The Oval he was a shadow of the player who claimed the man-of-the-match award in the Old Trafford win against Sri Lanka. Ashley Giles The lack of quality spin bowling in England creates its own problems for Giles, who rarely has the benefit of bowling in tandem with other slow bowlers. No match-winning performances from the Warwickshire slow left-armer then, who was nevertheless sorely missed in the one Test he didn't play in, at Trent Bridge. Andrew Caddick Two matches only for the Somerset man whose return after injury was initially deeply disappointing. Caddick's concentration went all astray at Headingley. Was far, far better at The Oval, and if only he had bowled that way in Leeds England could have won the series. Matthew Hoggard Deserves applause simply for being the only England bowler to play in all four Tests. Quickly added to his seven-wicket haul at Lord's with four wickets in the first innings at Trent Bridge. Took just three wickets in the remainder of the series, however, just when he seemed to have the Indians under his spell. Simon Jones The Welshman surprisingly burst onto the Test scene with the bat, smashing 44 at Lord's. He troubled batsmen with his extra pace but still looked under-prepared for Test cricket, gaining just four wickets before succumbing to a side strain. Steve Harmison He ran through the tail in the first innings at Trent Bridge, and claimed Sourav Ganguly for 99 in the second. But generally Harmison failed to intimidate and, after so much advanced billing, his pace was generally only in the low 80s, slower than several team-mates. |
See also: 17 Jun 02 | England Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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