The tail must wag

With England securing a place in the CB Series final it does, for some, put a slight sheen on an otherwise forgettable tour.

However, this late awakening (typical of England in Australia) must not be jumped upon by fans as a sign of an upturn in fortune and form. There is still a big question to be answered by this England Squad and, more importantly, the management. Notably; what is the game plan?

A One Day cricket game is won or lost on a teams batting. The problem is that the batting has been unreliable and has left our bowlers with little to bowl at.

The bowling line up selected for the last game against New Zealand in the CB series was as follows; Dalrymple, Plunkett, Mahmood, Panesar, Flintoff and Collingwood. The stats can argue that Dalrymple and Mahmood are unnecessary to the way the team is performing.

If we look at the wicket takers over the CB ODI series it would appear that England should plump for two specialist bowlers; Plunkett or Anderson and Panesar. Then rely on Flintoff and Collingwood as batsman-bowlers and Pieterson and Vaughan as occasional spin options. With the wild card inclusion of Stuart Broad – not before time - England could put together a strong side for the World Cup, based on batting.

What the bowlers must do is to bowl tightly and economically in tandem with clever fielding positions and canny use of the power plays. This relies on the captain knowing his bowlers and trusting them to bowl to a plan. The bowlers mentioned would not be picked to take wickets necessarily but to restrict runs and tie up at least one end.

Anderson has arguably been the pick of the fast/medium bowlers during this long tour; he’s been consistent and accurate. He would be my first choice but with his constant back problems there is a question mark and Plunkett should be his back-up.

Mahmood, Lewis and Tremlett have all had their moments but would anyone have them in their World XI? Surely a team with any chance of winning the World Cup has to have at least one player who would make it into most peoples World XI . We have two in my opinion, Pieterson and Flintoff, and they are both batsmen.

My team for the World Cup:
Loye, Pieterson, Vaughan, Joyce, Strauss, Collingwood, Flintoff, Nixon, Broad, Anderson, Panesar

Top ODI wicket takers in the CB ODI series:
Plunkett 10
Anderson 8
Flintoff 8
Panesar 7
Collingwood 6