Ten tips for improving England's ODI chances

1. Wield the Axe: I'm not suggesting a return to the late-80s/early-90s revolving door selection policy, which saw Graeme Hick get dropped more often than a Monty Panesar catch. But, if someone has not proven themselves to be up to the job, bin them.

2. Shuffle the Pack: Try new talent out. Rather than repeatedly going back to Owais Shah and Tim Bresnan, see who else is out there. The only real way to find out if they sink or swim is to chuck them in the deep end. Rather than watching the same old has-beens fail time-and-again, why not watch a noob fail instead? You never know, he might not!

3. Get Them In Young: India do it; Pakistan do it all the time; the Windies are often forced to do it; Aussies have been known to do it; even the guys on our level, like New Zealand do it - just look at Dan Vettori. The most left-field and yet most successful one-day pick in the last decade for England was Jimmy Anderson, off the back of half-a-dozen Lancashire appearances and some U-19 cricket. And he was immediately a demon (and continued to be so). Of course, this is difficult when you’re waiting for your best players to actually qualify for England in the first place, but that’s another issue. For the time being, get Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan in the team - an after the Lord Mayor’s show one-day series against the Aussies is the ideal time.

4. Biff It, Don’t tap it! “Whack it!” is the slogan of a well-known fruit-shaped chocolate product, but it could equally be applied to England’s top order. We don’t, at present, have someone who can hit the ball a very long way from a good length, striking fear into the hearts of opposition bowlers and rousing the love of the crowd. Freddie and KP are the obvious exceptions, but (a) they’re never fit and (b) they always bat too low. Get them in at No. 1, start the innings at 7-an-over in the first Powerplay and the opposition are on the back foot from ball one. Look at the likes of Dilshan and Jayasuriya, Afridi, Ryder and McCullum, Sehwag, even David Warner.

5. Don’t Get Rid of Domestic 50-Over Cricket If you’re not playing it regularly, how do you expect to get good at it. That said, how often do England players actually play for their counties anyway?

6. Play Domestic 50-Over cricket on Uncovered Pitches: This has the effect of: encouraging young bowlers, spinners in particular (of whom there are not enough); weeding out the men from the boys when it comes to batting (no more flat-track bullies); challenging the captaincy nous of the prime candidates, as it adds an extra dimension to their game-planning, suggesting who might have the vision to think outside the box in international games.

7. Don’t Conform: At first glance, England look like they follow this instruction rather too well already. They don’t have a power-hitter; they employ dibbly-dobblers for at least 40 overs every innings; from 2010, they won’t practice the game they play most often. The list goes on. But what I really mean is: think outside the box, when you’re on the field. Try different field placings. Get the keeper to stand up to the seamers (see my next point). Don’t play into the opposition’s hands by being wholly one-dimensional and predictable. Find players like Sohail Tanvir who bowl of the wrong foot, or slinger-Malinga, or mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis, who doesn’t “wheelie-bin” down six stock balls per over; Philip Hughes whose stance is a little too open; Shiv Chanderpaul even more so.

8. Pick James Foster: For goodness sake. He’s the most tidy gloveman around. Probably in the world. He can stand up to all of the seamers, except perhaps for Anderson, and put extra pressure on all those big-hitters who like to dance up and down the track. And he can bat very nicely too, thank you very much. Do you not remember the World Twenty20 tournament - he was pretty much the only positive to be drawn from the whole competition, from an England perspective.

9. Pick Dimi Mascarenhas: I know this is one of my bug-bears. But I’ve got to say it again. The man is an excellent one-day cricketer. He has played in the IPL. He has led a cup-winning side for Hampshire. He, like KP, has learnt a lot from Warney. He hit Yuvraj for five sixes in the last over of an ODI; his economy rate is excellent (4.24 in domestic cricket, as against Broad’s 5.12); he fields well; he’s a character (which England as a unit seem to lack).

10.Put the Football Away: Seriously, guys. We don’t see David Beckham warming up for a World Cup qualifier in Zagreb by chucking down a few doosras to Rio Ferdinand in the nets. It’s just a constant source of ridicule and injury, and I was pleased to see the comments from Andrew Strauss on Cricinfo that suggest this might be a thing of the past.