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Beamer Week Three

Beamer -  Week Three

A Winter's Tale

So, another long and very interesting winter of touring has drawn to a close. Bearing in mind where England were at the end of the summer, where do they stand now in comparison? Have they improved or fallen back? Which players have had a good winter and which have had tours to forget? A tally at the end of the winter of a one-day series win, a narrow test series defeat, a drawn ODI series, an ODI series defeat and a drawn test series are hardly results to set the world on fire. But do the bare statistics tell the full story?

It is probably worth reflecting upon the position in September. Excellent test performances in Pakistan and Sri Lanka over the previous winter were very encouraging, even if the corresponding one-day matches had been pretty dismal. This was then followed by a promising start to the summer, rather spoiled by a disappointing performance in the final test against Pakistan. Then followed the humiliation of the one-day tournament against Pakistan and Australia and the subsequent cricket lesson handed out by the Aussies in the Ashes. The situation therefore, was that England were definitely showing promise, but still had a long, long way to go - particularly the one-day team.

Consequently a swift tour to Zimbabwe was hastily arranged in order to give the relatively inexperienced limited-overs team some badly needed exposure to international one-day cricket. Avery promising tour it was too - Hoggard established himself as a bowler to be reckoned with, we had our first good look at Jamie Foster and a number of others also threw their names in to the hat. It had to be borne in mind however that Zimbabwe, a team having lost several of their best players and distracted by political turmoil, really were complete kack.

The tour to India provided new challenges and some slightly surprising names rose to them. Andy Flintoff was nothing short of a revelation - at least his bowling was anyway. How did he suddenly learn to bowl that fast? England were the better team in much of that series, despite being undercooked and outplayed in the first test, they deserved better than a one-nil defeat. Weather and flat pitches conspired against them. The drawn ODI series was definitely something of a triumph - particularly against a batting line-up like India's in their own back yard.

Post-Christmas, the ODI series against the Kiwi's was close, but rather disappointingly England seemed to have lost some of the ground they had made up in India. In the end a 3-2 defeat was probably a fair reflection of the fact that New Zealand were the cannier team. The test series on the other had was far more promising, England dominated the first two matches (aside from Astle's freak innings in the first). Furthermore, they could well have won the third if some of the umpiring decisions had gone their way. In last week's column I threw my support behind greater use of the television umpire. I would have to say that the course of the third test backs up this view. The decision to give Flintoff out in the first innings was abysmal, closely followed by the decisions not to give Harris out in both innings. These decisions probably changed the course of the match and therefore the series. As a result England have now lost ground in the test championship. Stuff tradition - let's use the cameras.

So to the players. Trescothick had a fair tour of India but a poor tour of New Zealand. Still, I think we all know he has the talent and I think he will get over this slump. Butcher once again had an inconsistent time of things. At times he looks really good, but he often gives his wicket away too cheaply. Vaughan continues to show potential but still rather irritatingly is failing to convert talent in to runs. Hussain has had a pretty good winter - both as a captain and as a batsman. His century in the first test against the Kiwi's was little short of brilliant in the conditions. Thorpe is still England's best batsman. Ramprakash on the other hand must surely have played his last game for England. I was disappointed that Bell was not given a go in the final test and I suspect the England camp may also be regretting not doing so as well.

Flintoff was the find of the winter. His bowling has been excellent, particularly in India, although perhaps slightly less so in New Zealand, where he could have made better use of the conditions. His batting showed that he still needs a lot of work on his defence, but his attacking shots are exhilarating. He has all but cemented his place in the team - and is still young enough to improve. Foster has looked good with the bat in tests, if slightly dodgy with the gloves. In the ODIs on the other hand he was so poor they gave the gloves to Trescothick. I feel England missed a trick by not taking along another 'keeper for the ODI's. It would have been a good opportunity to look at Read or Pratt for example. I can't see Foster 'keeping in the world cup - which must mean an inevitable return to Stewart.

The bowling has been very impressive. The absence of Gough for most of the winter and Caddick for the first half of it has been shrugged off. Aside from the emergence of Flintoff and Hoggard, Caddick bowled extremely well on his old stamping ground, Dawson showed promise early in the tour and Giles bowled competently, if generally unspectacularly, throughout. Vaughan and Butcher also showed themselves to be useful backup. Indeed I would personally like to see Vaughan used rather more.

As for the also-rans, Hegg must be cursing his lack of opportunities. Ormond and Afzaal should follow Ramprakash in to the test wilderness - unless they can show more commitment. Nether their talent or attitude are good enough, turning up in New Zealand looking like a pair of fat gits who have been eating too much Christmas pud all winter, is not showing a great deal of professionalism. The emergence of Flintoff has now probably left Craig White as a peripheral player likely to be called upon in the event of injuries. Kirtley may also be seen again if England suffer a Kiwi-like bout of injuries to their bowlers.

Finally, a word about Ben Hollioake. The events of this winter will always be clouded by his loss. Although by no means cemented in the ODI team, he was still young and clearly had the talent - who can forget that innings against the Aussies on his debut? A tragedy.

The conclusion? England have not been flattered by the results achieved this winter - I genuinely believe they have played well enough to deserve better. Yet perhaps the results are a fair reflection of the fact that, despite having come far this winter, they still have a long way to go. A number of players return with enhanced reputations - and several do not. I expect the likes of Bell and Harmison will be hard to keep out of the squad this summer. Finally, whatever the results, there has been some great cricket this winter, which I imagine most people have thoroughly enjoyed. Roll on the summer!

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