Brit by Brit

Batsmen
Nasser Hussain
RHB, age 33, Tests 63, runs 3535, avg 35.00, 100s 9
Hussain's success has been a triumph of willpower over several technical deficiencies including a dominant bottom hand and unorthodox leg and head positions. Since he took over from Alec Stewart, Hussain has established himself as the best and - not coincidentally - the most articulate England captain since Mike Brearley. Also, under Hussain England won four Test series in a row for the first time since Brearley. Hussain's style of captaincy has been a reflection of his personality - always full of energy and ideas. He has been known to make four field-changes in one over in a Test match, trying to make up for the lack of variety in his mostly all-seam attack. His batting has veered between extremes, from the heights of England's tour to South Africa to a worse run than even Brearley knew. Yet, so widespread was the recognition of Hussain's merit as captain that his place was never questioned, unlike Brearley's. A firebrand in his youth, renowned for looking after number one in run-out situations, Hussain has, of late, mellowed into a fierce commitment to England's cause.

Mark Ramprakash
RHB, age 32, Tests 46, runs 2114, avg 27.82, 100s 2
A batsman of rare talent, Ramprakash is nonetheless in danger of ending up as unfulfilled as Graeme Hick, with whom he shared a Test debut. His international career has five distinct phases: adhesive beginner (1991), nervous wreck capable of shining only as a stand-in (1992-97), solid achiever lacking only a top gear (1997-99), blatant scapegoat (1999-2000) and seasoned spare part (2000-01). A better player abroad, he has been selected twice as often at home. But there is still time for redemption, and that process may have begun with his first Test century in England, a feisty and stylish 133 against Australia at The Oval in August 2001. All along, he has been a fielder of world class at cover and bat-pad, and a county run-machine second only to Hick.

Marcus Trescothick
LHB, age 27, Tests 16, runs 1071, avg 36.93, 100s 2
Prolific as a schoolboy, Trescothick struggled to make runs for Somerset, but the England selectors looked beyond the stats and chose him for the 2000 one-day triangular tournament. He made an immediate impact with his brand of clean, left-handed hitting. The feet don't move much, but he knows where his off stump is and his cover-drive is a triumph of placement and timing. His pull is a meatier affair, as befits a man nicknamed Banger. Concerns over his ability to play spin evaporated in Sri Lanka when he hit his first Test century against Muttiah Muralitharan at Galle. Trescothick also counts wibbly-wobbly seam-up, sharp close fielding and cooking among his skills.

Graham Thorpe
LHB, age 32, Tests 69, runs 4498, avg 40.89, 100s 9
Thorpe established himself during the winter of 2000-01 as the most complete England batsman since the Gooch-Gower era, able to attack against pace or spin and to defend like Mike Atherton. He had begun as a brilliant counter-attacking lefthander who came off the ropes from the start of his innings to punch a quick 20 and seize the initiative. But 10 consecutive years of touring - for the A and Test team - troubled his back and dulled his edge. The winter's rest, and time for reflection with his family, brought him to a mature peak - as the best allround fielder in the team, a contributor in the dressing-room and occasional captain.

Mark Butcher
LHB, age 29, Tests 32, runs 1709, avg 28.97, 100s 3
Butcher's Test career has consisted of four patchy years and one solid series, culminating in one amazing day. He broke into the England side in 1997 as a combative opener with a punchy cover-drive, a sure sense of his off stump, and a glaring weakness against spin. Given an extended run, he repaid the selectors with centuries against South Africa and Australia. In 1999, he even captained England in one unhappy Test against New Zealand. But the runs dried up that winter in South Africa, his Surrey form crumbled, and so did his marriage, to Alec Stewart's sister Judy. Butcher lost his appetite for the game, and his Test place. But he then remodelled his technique and came back as an unexpected stand-in for the 2001 Ashes. A string of useful scores was followed by nirvana: a blazing, take-no-prisoners 173 not out on the fifth day at Headingley, in a run-chase that was more of a gleeful scamper. It was the innings of his life, and the 48th best in Test history according to the Wisden 100.

Michael Vaughan
RHB, age 27, Tests 11, runs 573, avg 31.83, 100s 1
Correct, obdurate, and with a priceless ability to forget the previous delivery, Vaughan emits an almost inhumanly calm aura at the crease. But he can play shots too: his straight-drive oozes class, and he keeps a punishing pull up his sleeve for bowlers who think they can bounce him out. He is also a whippet between the wickets; and his under-rated offspin relies on turn rather than accuracy. One of the more inspired England selections in recent years, even if injury - and for a while Graeme Hick - have limited his appearances so far.

Usman Afzaal
LHB, age 24, Tests 3, runs 83, avg 16.50
Afzaal first caught the eye in June 2000 with a vicious 151 against Worcestershire. A year later he found himself in the team for the first Ashes Test. He failed twice, but regained his place at Headingley, hit an emotional fifty at The Oval, and was chosen for the tour to India. At his best against pace, he straight-drives like an angel, even if he wouldn't gain many style points otherwise: on the field he most resembles a bear at aerobics class. His left-arm spin acts mostly as a partnership-breaker. A devout Muslim, he has a strong affinity with Pakistan, and in October 2000 led a group of Nottinghamshire teenagers on tour to Lahore.

Allrounders
Craig White
RHB/RFM, age 32, Tests 21, runs 543, avg 18.10, wickets 38, avg 36.53
White only became an integral member of the England side after blacking out mysteriously in a street in May 2000. He recovered and, almost overnight, became England's fulcrum at No. 7 or 8, although his confidence took a battering against the 2001 Australians. White's batting is all about aggression, and he loves launching the spinners over extra cover and sweeping them high over midwicket. Against the quicks he likes to hook, and isn't afraid of getting forward. His bowling relied on a muscular shoulder action and reverse swing at a decidedly nippy pace after a short run-up, but a knee surgery in the summer of 2001 took away much of the 90mph gloss.

Andrew Flintoff
RHB/RFM, age 24, Tests 9, runs 233, avg 16.64, wickets 7, avg 55.00
Big, northern and proud of it, Andy Flintoff hits the ball harder than any English cricketer since Ian Botham. (He empties bars almost as quickly.) His more murderous shots include biffing the fast bowler back over his head, and a cover-drive that is as much about brute strength as timing. The bludgeon over long-on isn't too bad either, although his lack of pace between the wickets makes him dangerously over-reliant on boundaries. `Freddie's' bowling is just as muscular - with most of his speed coming off a bone-crunching shoulder action. Not surprisingly, back problems have limited his effectiveness, and the England set-up is always trying to encourage him to do his loosening exercises.

Wicketkeepers
James Foster
RHB, age 21
James Foster has followed Nasser Hussain's career path with uncanny precision, aside from a brief schoolboy flirtation with international tennis. An alumnus, like Hussain, of Forest School in East London, he took indoor coaching from Nasser's dad Joe, before progressing through Durham University to a county career with Essex. Little wonder that Hussain has smiled on his rapid ascent and backed his promotion - after only 23 first-class games - to the vacancy left by Alec Stewart's refusal to tour. No one denies that Foster has great promise. He opened his international account by stumping Andy Flower, repeated the trick two balls later with his brother Grant, and only slightly spoilt the effect by dropping a sitter of a skyer later in the same innings. Balanced and organised with the bat, he produced one startling innings of 74 for Essex against Australia in 2001. The question is: does he have the single-minded commitment to do a Healy and bypass the learning curve of the first-class game?

Warren Hegg
RHB, age 33, Tests 2, catches 8, runs 30, avg 7.50
Chunky and compact, Hegg is a valuable nugget in the lower-middle order as Lancashire's wicket-keeper-batsman. He can dig in or counter-attack, and loves the upper cut. He also has a punchy cover-drive, and revels in one-day run-chases for Lancashire. After a string of England A appearances, he finally broke through and won two caps when England decided to give Alec Stewart a break. Hegg kept well enough but struggled with the bat, and lost his place to Chris Read for the 1999 series against New Zealand. But he remained a tireless cheerleader behind the stumps and after shining with the bat for Lancashire, he was recalled for the tours of India and New Zealand in 2001-02.

Bowlers
Martyn Ball
OB, age 31
Martyn Ball is a handy batsman, sprightly fielder, and - the main string to his bow - tidy offspinner. He doesn't impart much turn, but he's a thinking bowler who relies on technical know-how. He played for Young England in 1989 against New Zealand, taking 5 for 69 in the second match, but he wasn't seriously mentioned as a Test bowler after that. He's a pugnacious lower-order batsman and one of the finest slips in the country. Short, sturdy and popular, Ball is as competitive as they come.

Richard Johnson
RFM, age 27
A burly swing bowler with a high action, Johnson made the news in 1994 when he took 10 for 45 in an innings for Middlesex against Derbyshire. He had already ended Brian Lara's run of five consecutive first-class centuries that summer, and when Johnson excelled again in 1995, he was picked for England's tour of South Africa. But a back injury forced him to pull out, and he had to wait five and a half years before he was picked for the final three Tests against Australia in 2001. He was selected for the India tour after Andy Caddick dropped out at the last minute. Johnson's stock delivery is the one that swings away from the right-hander, and he can occasionally find bounce too. His once-promising batting is now of the swing-or-miss variety, although he can still turn the one-day game around.

Richard Dawson
OB, age 21
At 21, Dawson is young for a spinner, but he showed enough potential in his first full season with Yorkshire - 22 wickets in four matches in August to help secure the Championship - to be chosen for the England tours to India and New Zealand in 2001-02. An accurate, attacking bowler who flights the ball well, he also extracts plenty of turn, grips the turf and uses his height to conjure some hearty bounce. Easy-going, quick to learn and handy in the outfield, Dawson is also quite capable with the bat.

Ashley Giles
SLA, age 28, Tests 8, wickets 26, avg 35.88
Giles does not have the most fluent spin-bowling action - possibly because he began life as a fast bowler. But he is accurate, finds some turn and even more bounce, and established himself as England's No. 1 slow bowler during the triumphant Pakistan tour of 2000-01. The rip-snorting delivery that pitched outside leg and fizzed past Inzamam-ul-Haq's bat onto the stumps at Karachi was the best piece of bowling by an England spinner since Phil Tufnell teased the Aussies at The Oval in 1997. It was light years away from Giles's dismal Test debut which suggested he might remain a one-cap wonder. With the bat, Giles struggles against the short-pitched ball in Tests, despite scoring plenty of runs for Warwickshire; in the field he has a strong arm and is agile for a man of his size.

Matthew Hoggard
RFM, age 25, Tests 2, wickets 6, avg 36.83
Big, bustling, and with the sort of energy coaches kill for, Hoggard shapes the ball away from the right-hander at pace and is surprisingly slippery off the pitch. Chosen as one of five seamers when England played the West Indies at Lord's, he bowled a searching first spell before Alec Stewart forgot about him for almost the rest of the day. England didn't forget, though, and took Hoggard to Pakistan in 2000-01 where he helped himself to a glut of wickets in the minor matches. He furthered his reputation when he successfully led England's attack in one-dayers in Zimbabwe in 2001-02.

James Ormond
RFM, age 24, Tests 1, wickets 1@115.0
With his Italianate features and chunky physique, James Ormond looks more like a pizza delivery boy than a fast bowler. But he bustles in briskly, bangs the ball in with a nice, high action and swings it away from the right-hander. Ormond has always been a wicket-taker in county cricket, even if his motivation has been questioned at times, and he was chosen for the England A tours of Kenya and Sri Lanka in 1997-98, where he bowled some penetrative second spells. His consistency earned him a call-up to the senior squad for the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval in 2001. He can hold up an end with the bat, even if some of his innings end with death-or-glory swipes.