England gamble on fitness tests in quest for quality (2 March 1999)

2 March 1999

England gamble on fitness tests in quest for quality

By Christopher Martin-Jenkins

IT WOULD be good to think that the 15 players named by the selectors yesterday to play for England in the World Cup in May and June will be strong enough to win it. The reality is that they are not certain to get through the first round, will do well to reach a semi-final and would have to have everything in their favour to win the trophy for the first time.

It could happen, of course, and it would be of immeasurable benefit to the game in England and Wales if it did but a measure of the task is the news that Australia, the second favourites, have omitted from their short list of 19 two batsmen who consumed English bowling for a pastime this winter, Michael Slater and Greg Blewett.

That is good news for Derbyshire and Yorkshire, perhaps, but also a vivid illustration of the comparative scarcity of Englishmen capable of winning matches at the highest level. In the circumstances the selectors are right to have settled for quality in specialist areas, a policy which, in the cases of Michael Atherton, Graham Thorpe and Neil Fairbrother, has required taking a risk with long-standing injuries.

Angus Fraser, Atherton and Fairbrother are three of six players over 30 in the 15. There are five specialist batsmen and three fast bowlers but the long list of potential all-rounders has come down to seven, including Graeme Hick, Robert Croft and Ian Austin. Hick will have to act as the second spinner in suitable conditions and Vince Wells is a reserve wicketkeeper with limited recent experience.

The gamble with creaking bodies is less than it was before the rules of combat were clarified. Atherton (back), Thorpe (back), Fairbrother (hamstring) and Austin, who had a knee operation at the end of last year, face rigorous fitness tests "over a period of days" before March 15, under the supervision of the physiotherapist, Wayne Morton. If they pass and subsequently break down, they or any other injured players could be replaced not only before the teams from the 11 other competing nations arrive on May 1, but also during the tournament itself, which starts on May 14.

This applies, it transpires, even in the case of a recurrence of a long-term injury, the only provisos being that a medical panel must first decide that the condition is serious and that once replaced a player will be out for the rest of the competition. Announcing the 15 yesterday, the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, made it clear that he was as confident as he reasonably could be that all four of the recently suspect cricketers would be fit to go to Lahore and Sharjah in April for the warm-up tournament with India and Pakistan.

Sharjah was the scene of the tournament in December 1997 which raised hopes of a new spirit, organisation and style in the England one-day team. They had played as well at home before, but not for a long time overseas. Since then Adam Hollioake has lost the captaincy to Alec Stewart and Alistair and Dougie Brown, Matthew Fleming, Ashley Giles, Dean Headley, Ben Hollioake and Peter Martin have been dropped. From the more recent team who lost in the finals of the triangular series in Australia but at least managed to eliminate the first World Cup opponents, Sri Lanka, Mark Alleyne, John Crawley and Nasser Hussain have also been omitted.

These changes suggest the truth, that neither the selectors nor anyone else is absolutely sure what England's most effective one-day side is. They have to buckle down now to try to recreate the Sharjah spirit in time for some tough matches in Group A against South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and the not-to-be-underestimated Zimbabwe. Even Kenya have slain a giant and they are taking things seriously under the eye of their coach, Alvin Kallicharran.

In Sharjah this time the job will be to sharpen the fielding which, with so many venerables on board, will be crucial, and to build on past experience which ranges from Stewart's 116 one-day internationals to Andrew Flintoff's maiden status. It is, however, good that the big, bouncy, but now slightly slimmer Lancashire puppy has been picked, changing places again with Ben Hollioake, both because of the form he has shown for the A team and because of his potential to turn a match through sheer strength.

That England lost their way towards the end in Australia, losing six of their last seven matches, not only made Thorpe's recall essential following a carefully planned rehabilitation but also opened the way again for Atherton and Fraser, who will both be better for their rest.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)