The Hindu : Sport : England bowling lacks the firepower

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Tuesday, Mar 06, 2007
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England bowling lacks the firepower

Nandita Sridhar

Flintoff and Pietersen can be explosive with the bat

One-day cricket tends to distort reality. So momentary is its impact that the latest performance is all that matters to inflate or deflate a team's worth. Four one-day wins have deluded some into believing that England could win the World Cup.

In reality, a team that had lost 19 out of its 26 matches (since 2006) before these four wins, a team that is never at home on slower pitches and a team with serious bowling deficiencies will require a miracle and mass opposition failures for super-success in the Caribbean.

Taking nothing away from England's Commonwealth Bank series win, Michael Vaughan (or Andrew Flintoff)'s team still has serious gaps to plug. England's strength is by far its batting.

The team's fortunes with the willow will hinge on Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood.

No dynamism at the top

England's top-order lacks dynamism, with Vaughan (if fit), Andrew Strauss and possibly Ian Bell more in the Test mould when compared to other openers. What works to England's advantage is that it has two explosive strikers in Flintoff and Pietersen, and an in-form Collingwood.

When compared to the colossuses in Australia, the grounds in the Caribbean will be smaller, which should fuel the aggressive tendencies of Flintoff and Piertersen. On such grounds, Collingwood will have to judiciously judge those cheeky singles he thrived on in Australia.

But in the modern day game, there's no such total as big total, and even 300-plus scores might seem hard to defend for England, which does not have sufficient bowling firepower.

Flintoff and Monty Panesar will figure prominently in the bowling plans, but the remaining thirty overs will be at the mercy of Sajid Mahmood, James Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Jon Lewis, Jamie Dalrymple or possibly Collingwood. These men will have to rise above their perceived worth on paper if England is to find itself in the last four.

The two main factors that might work in England's favour will be momentum and confidence. Too much cannot be read into the CB series win, but it has instilled a self-belief in the players, which could go a long way in perking up their fielding.

After losing to New Zealand at Perth in January, England's Cup chances looked a tad more respectable than Bermuda's. The team must be lauded for shutting out criticism and notching up those wins despite missing key players like Vaughan and Pietersen owing to injury. The Englishmen have nothing to lose in beginning their campaign by feeding off their series win.

Can Vaughan last?

But a lot of that will depend on Vaughan. The captain still looks doubtful to last England's course, which will shift the onus on the talismanic Flintoff.

`Freddie' is not the one to shirk responsibilities, but England's mainstay will have his hands full, even without having to marshal team resources. It will serve the team well if Flintoff is left to express himself purely with the bat and the ball.

It has been three World Cups since an England team made it to the semifinals, and it can no longer look back at past final appearances for a maiden World Cup victory.

A lot has changed since 1992. Semifinals tend to pan out independent of odds and favourites, but England getting there looks doubtful, though it can shock one of the big names.

The team had been part of a fairytale in the 2005 Ashes series, and only an unlikely repeat or something similar will see the Englishmen go deep into the tournament.

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