England Cricket / Editor / 06 June 2007 /

England have suffered a series of injury problems over the last two years. Former Coach Duncan Fletcher highlighted the absence of key players as the principal reason for the winter's Ashes whitewash and the physio's room remains as full as ever, despite the return to fitness of Captain Michael Vaughan.

The current injury plight is not being exploited by West Indies - who have enough of their own concerns in that department - but Australia certainly did so Down Under. The break-up of England's 2005 Ashes winning squad did not concern them and England should be similarly as ruthless in disposing of West Indies, in disarray after the departure of new skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Whilst the absence in the winter of Vaughan (inspirational skipper), Marcus Trescothick (premier opener) and Simon Jones (strike bowler) were severe blows, the feeling remained that Fletcher was attempting to deflect criticism away from the poor preparation of the assembled players.

The use of the barely fit Ashley Giles and James Anderson in an attack that already contained the heavily burdened Andrew Flintoff reflected a dedication to the 2005 squad which shut the door on alternative candidates.

New Coach Peter Moores has been vocal in 'wiping the slate clean', with everyone given a chance to impress, from county stalwarts like Ryan Sidebottom, to struggling current players like Steve Harmison.

The new regime also differs from Fletcher's in that fringe players are encouraged to play as much as possible. Anderson was merely a drinks carrier for much of the last four years, an England squad man as opposed to a Lancashire player. He will rejoin his county on Thursday from national team 12th man duties as long as no one suffers a late injury.

That is far from guaranteed, as England continue to be ravaged by injury problems. Matthew Hoggard failed a fitness test for Old Trafford after missing the Headingly Test with a thigh injury sustained in the first Test and Flintoff has again gone under the knife after his ankle soreness failed to ease.

The pair are not easily replaced, as they have 425 Test wickets between them and are both in the top 10 of the world rankings. They also provide accuracy and control that has been lacking in the current new ball partnership of Harmison and Liam Plunkett.

Fears over Flintoff's long-term future are bound to arise, as this is his third operation on his left ankle in three years. Recent batting problems - he has averaged under 30 in both forms of the game over the last six months - suggests 'Freddie' will not be able to prolong his career as a specialist batsman.

Despite his travails with the bat, the big allrounder gives balance to the England line-up when fully fit. The Ashes win of 2005 - achieved with only 12 players - was partly based on the battery of four fast bowlers. England are unable to use those tactics as long as they choose a spinner whilst Flintoff is injured (and Monty Panesar is currently their most reliable bowler).

England were nonetheless impressive in winning three of the four Tests that Flintoff missed against Pakistan last summer. This not only suggests that Andrew Strauss was unlucky not to be given the Ashes captaincy, but also that England can prosper with only four bowlers.

They face that prospect this summer, as the former vice-captain is set to miss the India series as well as the rest of the clashes with West Indies. It effectively makes the management's tough decision on the composition of the team for them.

A fit Flintoff would surely bat at number six to enable the selection of four other bowlers, so one of the incumbent batsmen would have to miss out. Kevin Pietersen, ranked third in the world with an average of 54.4 is first on the team sheet, so one of Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood and Michael Vaughan, who average between 42.26 and 46.25, would miss out.

Vaughan is apparently an automatic selection despite his 18 months out of the team and his comeback ton at Headingly silenced the critics. Cook struggled in Australia but has generally appeared authoritative at the top of the order since hitting a ton on debut in Nagpur.

In fact all of the top six have regularly hit centuries recently, apart from Strauss, who has passed 50 once in his last 13 innings. A tough Ashes tour culminated in him being dropped for the start of the World Cup and he will feel under the most pressure to score runs in the remainder of the summer, especially as Ian Bell appears to have recovered form recent back trouble.

The Middlesex man captained England at Lord's and seems to like the role, winning three and drawing two of the five Tests he has taken charge of, averaging 55.66 in the process. Vaughan's success in charge seems to be measured solely in terms of the team's results.

The returning skipper has won 20 of the 34 Tests he has captained, the best win ratio of any England captain to have skippered at least 20 matches. Vaughan averaged 35.6 in 2004 and 38.25 in 2005, adequate returns that would have been under scrutiny if England had not been so dominant - they won 16 of their 26 matches in that period.

England have not been unduly tested by West Indies and the arrival of India in July might not necessarily mean the problems caused by injuries are exposed: England have only lost four of their 45 home Tests against India.

The England careers of Simon Jones, Trescothick and Giles might well be over, although the arrival of Moores as coach might encourage any in-form county player, especially as the One Day line-up might receive a facelift.

Even Vaughan's involvement is not guaranteed - an ODI average of 27.15 is not rescued by outstanding team results - and the bowling berths are there to be taken. Jon Lewis, Stuart Broad and Sajid Mahmood are all currently out injured, Harmison has retired and Hoggard is out of contention even when fit. Moores' first ODI team will have a new look by necessity as well as design.

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