Johnson input can aid Zimbabwe response

Cape Town - If playing for Zimbabwe rests solely on ability Neil Johnson should have been in the side instead of being kept out by an alleged injury when Sri Lanka were touring north of the Limpopo late last year.

He is a tough and hardy player, used to "giving it my all" and would like to see similar response from some of the other Zimboes. Officialdom and Johnners, however, do not really see eye to eye since he performed so admirably in last year's World Cup he made the list as one of the top 20 players in the tournament.

Yet Zimbabwe, who arrived for this particular series of international limited-overs slogs, have yet to really put together a convincing batting performance. They battled against Northerns at SuperSport Park last week when Neil McKenzie did a particularly fancy captaincy job and 20-year-old Pierre Joubert showed again why his limited-overs bowling skills are so highly rated.

Two nights later at the Wanderers they were not really in the hunt against South Africa when South Africa were just too strong.

Johnson has played for Leicestershire and Natal and knows a lot more about the game than some of his teammates only it seems there are others who feel they know better and the all-rounder was packed off south of the border over Christmas to cool down.

Well, that is the story from a source in Zimbabwe. Johnson is not saying too much. Whether Zimbabwe can actually test England is another matter. The last time they met England beat them by seven wickets at Trent Bridge in Nottingham during last year's World Cup.

Then as now their batting let them down, scoring 168 for seven and Alan Mullally's left-arm seamers doing as much as anything to upset their run making self-control as anyone.

Whether England plan to give the left-arm quick bowler another chance is another matter. He is too good to be left warming a pavilion seat yet again, but as Nasser Hussain, the England captain suggests, making too many changes to a winning side is not within the present selection plans.

England want to qualify for the final on February 12 and ensure their form is not disrupted by making too many unnecessary changes.

Having been encouraged by their form so far: a nine-wicket victory over South Africa in Bloemfontein and that tense one-run defeat at Newlands on Wednesday night, England are aware they are capable of staying in the race, as Hussain put it on Wednesday night.

Not surprisingly they have named an unchanged squad and one which is likely to be adept to the Newlands conditions.

England (possibly from): Nasser Hussain (capt), Nick Knight, Graeme Hick, Chris Adams, Vikram Solanki, Craig White, Mark Alleyne, Chris Read, Andy Caddick, Darren Gough, Alan Mullally, Graham Swann, Mark Ealham. Zimbabwe (from): Grant Flower, Neil Johnson, Alistair Campbell, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (capt), Stuart Carlisle, Guy Whittall, Heath Streak, John Rennie, Andy Whittall, Henry Olonga, Craig Wishart.

Umpires: Cyril Mitchley and Ian Howell TV: Wilf Diedricks.

Hours of play: 2.30-6.00pm; 6.45pm-10-15pm

TV: SABC and SuperSport 2Umpires: Wilf Diedricks and Rudi Koertzen; TV: Dave Orchard.