Fletcher puts faith in Plunkett's allround game

Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, is confident his faith in Liam Plunkett will be rewarded by him emerging into an international-class allrounder. Thrust into international cricket during England's tour of Pakistan in November 2005, Plunkett impressed with an innings of 56 in his second one-day international at Lahore. Since then, he has struggled to score and critics have questioned his ability as a lower-order batsman.

Fletcher, however, has put his faith in Plunkett and believed he has plenty to contribute during this winter's Ashes and the World Cup in 2007. "I don't think any young player has come into Test cricket with a bang and carried on right through," he told Sporting Life. "At some stage you are going to go through a bad patch, he's gone through it and come back."

Plunkett has been released from the senior side to play for Durham in a three-day fixture against West Indies A at Chester-le-Street. It was a move, Fletcher felt, that was key to England's lower-order batting. "We're releasing him to play for Durham against West Indies A, mainly to get some batting under his belt in a match situation," he said. "He's very young, but I think he could develop into a good bowling allrounder who can bat at No 8 or No 9, hopefully I think he's got the potential for No 8."

Kevin Shine, England's bowling coach, was equally confident in Plunkett's ability as a bowler. "He is a young bowler and every now and again he will bowl a ball that they don't play at," he said. "What we've got to do is keep working at his action and his game and try and get him some more experience and I think we've got a very exciting bowler for the future."

According to Shine, Plunkett's exposure to international cricket at a young age would not dent his confidence. "Liam's improving all the time," he said. "You have to remember he's very young and he's only played around 40 first class games. He's a strong character, he really works hard and he's very conscientious and he's a very exciting bowler for now and the future.

Geraint Jones, England's wicketkeeper, has also been given permission to feature for Kent in Sunday's National League fixture against Surrey at Guildford.