England is the underdog

By Ted Corbett

BIRMINGHAM, JUNE 6. The start of the triangular one-day tournament involving England, Australia and Pakistan on Thursday coincides with polling day for the House of Commons and the pundits reckon that in both contests there will be an overwhelming victory; by the Labour Party and the Australians.

England, like the Conservative party, is at such long odds that it may not even reach the final of the competition - which will set up a final that repeats the 1999 World Cup final - but has long-term plans for the development of the team in time for the World Cup in South Africa in 2003.

However in home conditions England is still a force even if this winter it won only one limited overs game in six.

Australia is the outstanding side in the world at the moment but its vulnerability, first demonstrated in the Test series in India, showed again on Wednesday when it lost to second division Middlesex in one of the two one-day warm-up matches. The match winner was Ben Hutton, grandson of Len Hutton who made 364 against Australia at the Oval in 1938.

Young Hutton has been in great form this summer and, aged 24, the left-handed batsman and swing bowler has a chance to get into the 2003 World Cup squad. ``It is nice to carry on the family tradition,'' he said, after making the top score of 73 as Middlesex won by six wickets, ``although I was only 13 when grandad died.''

One-day cricket in England, as widely practised by the home players in three different competitions each year, bears no resemblance either to the bang-crash-wallop of the Australian World Series or the cat-and-mouse game on the sub-continent and, so early in the summer, may be won by the best balanced side accustomed to bowling on seaming pitches and making do with totals of no more than 200.

That is why England has such a good record in this country. ``We know our own conditions and we make the most of that knowledge,'' says the England captain Alec Stewart, who will continue to act as stand-in for the injured Nasser Hussain. The team physio Dean Conway claims Hussain is well on his way to fitness and his absence means that England can experiment ahead of the World Cup although it seems reluctant to find a wicket- keeper to replace Stewart, who will be nearly 40 when the World Cup begins.

``I shall know when it is time to quit,'' he says in the self- confident way that has enabled him to shrug off unsubstantiated accusations of a connection with bookmakers as well as talk of the need to retire.

A year ago, in the inaugural three-team event, he hit two centuries and led the victory chase against Zimbabwe in the final with 93, besides talking opener Marcus Trescothick through the early stages of a career which now stands at the centre of England's revival.

Pakistan is disappointed that its young pace bowler Mohammad Sami has had to return home because of injury, for in the lead up to the next World Cup it hoped he might join Abdur Razzaq as the new ball combination in place of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram who have both given clear indications of their wish to hang up their boots in the near future.

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