Team England – On a high… But will it last long enough???

The English squad for the world cup is as follows –

Michael Vaughan (captain)
Andrew Flintoff (vice captain)
James Anderson
Ian Bell
Ravi Bopara
Paul Collingwood
Jamie Dalrymple
Ed Joyce
Jon Lewis
Sajid Mahmood
Paul Nixon
Monty Panesar
Kevin Pietersen
Liam Plunkett
Andrew Strauss.

By defeating the Australians in the Commonwealth series down under, the Englishmen not only earned some solace at the end of a tormenting tour, but also proved that they indeed can win without Pieterson in their ranks. KP is not only England’s best limited overs cricketer, but their only genuine match winner too. So winning without him would have surely caused a relief. Now, with his return to the side, if England can get Collingwood, Bell, Joyce and Strauss to provide back-up, the Poms could definitely cause a few upsets. But do they have enough to go all the way to the finals and beyond? That would require the battered knee and ankle of Messrs. Vaughn and Flintoff to not only hold for another two months, but continuously enable miracles as well…

Let’s analyze the individual disciplines -

Batting –

The batting order has quite a few first-timers to the world cup scene. Without Trescothick (the batting mainstay, until the breakdown), England will have to have somebody else giving them brisk starts. Having Mel Loye in the squad could have helped for this reason. The experiment of having Strauss in the middle order could be reverted and Strauss might well open with Vaughn. Joyce, Bell and Collingwood are all extremely talented but are not exactly the kinds that would set the stadium alight. But with uncertain and untested pitches, their slow batting could just be the answer. KP is the key and having him any below No.4 would be a colossal waste. Flintoff, Dalrymple, Bopara and Nixon in the lower middle order are capable of upping the tempo.

Bowling –

Anderson along with Flintoff are the only ones to have played in a previous world cup and rightfully so, their form will hold the key. Lewis and Plunkett are both very capable one-day bowlers and Mahmood with his height and pace can sure be deadly. Surprisingly, England has lots of options this time in their slow bowling department this time. Monty has finally gained the favor of his coach and is likely to figure at least a few time in the eleven. Dalrymple and Bopara too can bowl some spin. KP, with his off cutters and Collingwood, with his dibbly-dobblies can sure act as partnership breakers. The attack, though nowhere near the best, can certainly cause an upset or two…

Keeping –

36 year old Nixon, edged out ever-unfortunate Chris Read to the slot. Though just an average bat, Nixon is believed by many to be an exceptional keeper. His keeping skills, according to many past wicket-keeping greats, are the best in the business today. Also, with his non-stop motivation and talking (read ‘Sledging’) behind the stumps, Batsmen could do well to carry ear-plugs onto the field.

Fielding –

Collingwood is among the best fielders in the world today… Closely following him is Dalrymple… Though there are no arguments about these, there is not much else to write about the rest of the English fielding. Most in the team, with the possible exception of Strauss (who is pretty good in the slip region), are notorious for flooring easy sitters. The ground fielding though, is marginally better. Overall, as a team, this is just an ordinary fielding side…

My First Playing Eleven –

Vaughn
Strauss
Bell
Pieterson
Collingwood
Flintoff
Dalrymple
Nixon
Lewis
Anderson
Panesar

Joyce, who is in pretty good form, would find it difficult to squeeze into the eleven, as the management would most likely go in with the old guard. The same is true in the case of Bopara as well. Panesar could get a few matches, but with the availability of the all-round talent of Bopara and Dalrymple, Vaughn would need to see some real good reason to play 2 spinners.

In the first 5 editions of the world cup, the Englishmen reached the Finals thrice and the Semifinals the remaining two times. However it has been continuous downhill since then. It is very unlikely that this team would reverse that trend.

Super Eight for sure… But Semis would take a miracle…