No time for England to sit and relax (16 May 1999)

16 May 1999

No time for England to sit and relax

Scyld Berry

Barring a collapse against Kenya, England have guaranteed themselves a place in the Super Six phase of the World Cup after winning the toss, and the match, against Sri Lanka. Now they have to raise their sights and aim not merely to qualify, but to qualify well enough to reach the semi-finals.

The complicated regulations of the Super Six phase can be boiled down to the more matches you win in your qualifying group, the more likely you are to reach the last four. England will carry forward into the Super Sixes the points they have scored against the other teams who have qualified from their group, then play the top three teams from Group B.

England, in other words, cannot be content with simply avoiding banana skins in the rest of the qualifying round by beating Zimbabwe and Kenya, for they are not going to carry forward any points from defeating them. They may not even carry forward their two points for beating Sri Lanka, wonderful though the batting of the holders may be, as their seam attack is so inadequate they may not qualify at all.

In all probability, therefore, England will have to win against South Africa or India if they are to carry forward any points into the Super Six phase; and if they can beat both they will enjoy the best of head starts with the maximum of four points. They could then still reach the semi-finals even if they win only one of their three games against Australia, Pakistan, West Indies or New Zealand.

To this end, England should use their game against Kenya on Tuesday as their last chance to experiment, and bring in Nick Knight, Vince Wells and Angus Fraser for Nasser Hussain, Adam Hollioake and Ian Austin. The experiment with Hussain was worth making at Lord's: after their many bad starts, and nine defeats in 11 internationals, England needed someone of sound defence, and whose forte is not giving his wicket away, to partner Alec Stewart. But if they are to raise their game and reach the semis, Knight has to be restored with licence to attack.

Knight has had a poor run - 47 runs in seven innings this season - only partly because he is out of form. He is also out of technique, as he plays with his hands as far away from his body as John Crawley, creating a large gap for the ball to nip through. But as Mike Atherton noted here last week, Knight is a far better player when he uses his feet and comes down the wicket, for then the momentum of going forward keeps his hands going forward with him, not out and away from his body. While dancing down the pitch has its risks, it actually makes Knight's technique sounder.

Such unorthodoxy stands a far better chance of disconcerting and defeating South Africa. Next Saturday's match is at the Oval, a good place for hitting through the line, and also, because of its even bounce, for aborting charges down the wicket in favour of lying back and pulling fast bowlers, as Knight did in his last two games in Sharjah. But to play such a game, Knight needs some form of insurance - namely Wells to replace Hollioake, as they have equal merit as bowlers so that Wells can be promoted to No 3 if Knight perishes early in the charge.

Graeme Hick does not like to be disturbed from his position of three but he is not the best man for exploiting the first 15 overs. Like Hussain, he needs time to build an innings, and in the course of playing himself in is not adept at running quick singles. The difference is that Hick has proved far more likely to go on.

One other change should be made to provide more wicket-taking bite in England's early overs in the form of Fraser. All too often Darren Gough and Alan Mullally are going to want the same end, as they did at Lord's, and as the leading strike bowlers for their counties they expect to get it. Being economical with the new ball, as Austin will be, is not sufficient at the other end when England's solitary ace is their seam attack. England will still have enough 'death bowlers' without Austin.

To set against Stewart's return to runs and the increased aggression of his captaincy, England's fielding remains stubbornly average. Few errors are made but there is no distinctive excellence: not once did an England fielder hit the stumps, or come near to doing so, as the Sri Lankans scampered their singles without fear. The wheels were wobbling again just before Roshan Mahanama and Marvan Atapattu played their over-ambitious shots. But at least England's close-catching is safe, as it has to be if their seamers are going to bowl them to the cup.

Above all of England's limitations is their inability to bowl attacking spin, or to play it other than with the sweep. Having got past Muttiah Muralitharan without too much embarrassment, Anil Kumble is the only major obstacle of this kind left in England's group, which is one more reason why they must cash in on their start. In the Super Sixes, Shane Warne, Saqlain Mushtaq and perhaps Mushtaq Ahmed will be coming at them from Group B.

Then, if England can reach the semis, the luck of the toss again in damp conditions might just disguise those other shortcomings.

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