Twenty20 / Editor / 02 May 2007 /

England's sorry winter and spring will still be fresh in the memory when they open their summer international campaign next month, with the West Indies and, later, India arriving for tours to provide new coach Peter Moores with his first test in the job.

Moores took over from Duncan Fletcher in the wake of the Ashes and World Cup disappointment and, although his CV with Sussex and the England Academy is very strong with county success galore in recent seasons, this year will be an acid test of his coaching ability at the very highest level.

And that first summer will not be a quiet one for Moores, with a total of seven Tests and 10 one-day internationals between May and September before a trip to South Africa at the end of the summer for the inaugural Twenty20 Championship and an autumn tour to Sri Lanka.

Many expected Moores to blood some new players when he named his 25-man development squad for the summer, but there was not a single player named who does not have some kind of experience with England, be it in one-dayers or Tests.

But at least there is no chance of England entering the first Test with the West Indies at Lord's on May 17 with the same side that lost the fifth Ashes Test in January, with at least four changes expected.

The only real shock in the squad was the very swift return of opener Marcus Trescothick, who came home early from Australia with what has been termed a stress-related illness. His early-season form for Somerset, and an assertion that he is now well enough to make himself available for selection this summer, was enough for Moores.

With his return, and a hoped for return to Test action for skipper Michael Vaughan, England will be looking for a much better base to their innings, especially as they come up against a West Indies bowling attack that is one of the worst in Test cricket.

And the Windies could be right back to the start of a rebuilding campaign when they arrive in England early in May, with Brian Lara having retired and a number of players considering their future because of a cash row over the tour - it comes outside the ICC's Future Tours Programme and is subject to separate negotiations.

That leaves them, less than two weeks before they travel to England, without a coach, in the wake of Bennett King's resignation, and with no squad having been named - and England fans thought they had things bad!! Their cricket board did at least show signs of being awake by naming Ramnaresh Sarwan as skipper for the tour.

But what kind of England side will the Caribbean tourists face in their four Tests, two Twenty20 matches and three one-day internationals this summer and what direction is Moores intending to take the side in?

On pure statistics, Trescothick should waltz back into the side as opener with his average in Tests of 43.79, and his figures against the West Indies at home make even better reading at 46.27. But most of his runs came in one match back in 2004 at Old Trafford and it may be tough for Moores to bring back 'Banger' and overlook some of the more positive performances made in his absence.

If he is to miss out, expect Alastair Cook to return to the side after missing the World Cup because of his lack of one-day experience. The Essex opener has had his ups and downs in a brief international career, but a 43.20 average gives plenty of cause for hope for what will be his first chance against the tourists.

Vaughan and Andrew Strauss, who was dropped for part of the World Cup campaign, will be keen to return to the side to try and play themselves back into form, especially given their success the last time the West Indies were in England, when the hosts cantered to a 4-0 Test series success with four wide-margin victories.

Vaughan hit centuries in both innings in the first Test at Lord's and had a number of other decent scores, but that was probably his peak and, without some heroics in the forthcoming series, there is going to be a huge clamour for his replacement as captain, and possibly in the team as well.

The other England player under huge pressure is Andrew Flintoff. But punters thinking of backing him this season in long-term markets can take satisfaction from the news that he has hailed Moores' appointment as coach and, with his previous figures against the West Indies, this weakened side could be the perfect chance for him to prove he can overcome his off-field problems and become the dominant all-rounder he was in the Ashes win two summers ago.

England have dominated the West Indies since the turn of the millennium, with 10 wins from the last 12 Test meetings and just one defeat seven years ago and, despite unimpressive one-day returns, should have too much firepower even for the tourists' strongest side, lacking Lara and any kind of experienced bowling apart from Corey Collymore, should he make the squad.

Things may not be that different later in the summer when India arrive, although they will hope that any hangover from the failure even to reach the Super 8 phase of the World Cup will be long gone.

The sides will meet in three Tests and then a lengthy seven-game one-day international series that lasts all the way until September 8, finishing just three days before the first game of the Twenty20 World Championship - although neither of the sides play until the third day of that competition in South Africa; England against Zimbabwe and India facing Scotland.

England had some decent success in their last Test series against India, securing a well-deserved 1-1 draw before crashing to a predictable 5-1 defeat in a one-sided one-day series with a number of their supposed stars again under-performing late in the summer of 2002.

But this will be the Indians' first full tour to England in five years, with the 2002 four-Test series ending in a 1-1 draw thanks to some superb batting by skipper Rahul Dravid, who lived up to his nickname of 'the Wall' by averaging a fraction over 100 in his six innings.

Dravid should be back to lead his side again this summer and, with Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag possibly joining him, the chances are England will be tested a lot harder in the second half of the season, especially if Harbhajan Singh is able to turn the ball as much as he has in domestic cricket with Surrey.

Trescothick and Vaughan both have plenty of form against India, with Vaughan having one of his best series in 2002 as he piled up 615 runs in four matches at an average of 102.50 but, apart from the skipper and Matthew Hoggard, who took 14 wickets in that series, this will be the first real home exposure for the majority of the team against India.

Cook was the biggest success of the tour to India in 2005/6, as he scored an unbeaten ton in only his second Test match after coming in for the absent Trescothick midway through the tour - Paul Collingwood and Strauss also hit tons but Kevin Pietersen did have struggles as he averaged only 36. His best form, however, has always come on home soil where the pitches are a little more placid and predictable.

Hoggard did take another 13 wickets at a paltry average of only 17.84 runs per, and could be worth following again this summer if conditions suit his swing bowling, as India have consistently been troubled by bowlers that take the ball side to side rather than sheer pace.

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