England Cricket / Frank Gregan / 10 November 2008 /

In the 4-0 thrashing of South Africa we saw the best of England and in the recent Stanford Series, the worst of England. But which England will we see in the upcoming ODI Series against India, asks Frank Gregan.

If only everything in life was as predictable as the rain at Wimbledon, the timekeeping of Sir Alex Ferguson or the storyline of every episode of Scooby Doo! If that were the case then I would be lying on a beach sipping Pina Coladas served by the waitress with the skimpiest thong courtesy of my Betfair account.

Sadly sport by its very nature is highly unpredictable and no team more so than the English cricketers who have the ability to excite, thrill, disappoint, frustrate and bemuse within the space of one innings. Their dismal performance in the Stanford Challenge has been well documented as one of the biggest sporting chokes ever and they now move onto a ODI series against an Indian side who have just been described by Andrew Flintoff as "probably the best team in the world." Looks like Freddy is touting for a Carlsberg endorsement!

India have just come to the end of a fascinating test series against Australia and have to make the mental adjustment back to one day cricket on Friday, the day of the 1st ODI of a 7 match series. They will be going into the series in good heart following their 2-0 test series victory over the Australians and confident in the knowledge that the last time England toured India the visitors were on the end of a 5-1 hammering in the one dayers.

England will have warmed up with two games in Mumbai during which one of the features was that they played with twelve men. I think that is a cunning plan and working on the assumption that the English players all look the same to the Indians I suggest England take the field with fifteen players on Friday. The problem is that if they show the same attitude that they did in Antigua they could play with 25 players and still not get a result!

But this is the England cricket team that we are talking about and the trick with these guys is to expect the unexpected. Jekyll became Hyde during their first warm up match in India during which Flintoff looked to be in great nick scoring a boundary-blitzing century against the Mumbai Cricket Association. My only concern is that the opposition may not have been the strongest, a fact backed up by Kevin Pietersen taking two wickets!

India have decided to rest Sachin Tendulkar for the first three matches and will be without the services of recent retiree Sourav Ganguly and of course Anil Kumble, who retired from ODIs a couple of years before calling it a day in the longer format, so perhaps there is a glimmer of hope for England. The market to win the series doesn't seem to think so with India available to back at [1.53], England at [3.3] and the draw at [11.5].

The irony is that prior to the Stanford debacle English cricket looked to be on the up. Test series wins home and away against the Kiwis were followed by a crushing 4-0 victory in the ODI series against South Africa. If Pietersen and Flintoff fire together they will surely provide the inspiration for an English win. If they struggle so will the team. There are a number of supporting acts in the squad but KP and Freddy are the ones with the match winning qualities.

Jekyll or Hyde? I'm going to cover both bases. I recommend that England are backed at [3.3] but if they lose the first match and the correct score market takes shape back 5, 6, and 7 - 0 to the Indians just in case KP and his boys produce the kind of tour that has you hiding behind the sofa!

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