Bat and ball / Paul Moon / 13 August 2009 /

After England tamely threw away their Series lead at Headingley, Paul Moon began to think about where it all went wrong for England and who should get the chop for the deciding Oval Test.

I cannot find a more appropriate adjective than the one used by Sir Ian Botham when he described that dreadful performance at Headingley as -abject! As surprised as I was about the debacle itself, I was even more surprised with the lack of column inches in the press questioning the preparation for this summer's Ashes series. This actually facilitated the breakdown!

What/where was the plan to deal with the impending and inevitable absences of Pietersen and Flintoff? Warnings were available on this site regarding soft bellies long before the Justin Langer memorandum hit the public domain. If I, a passionate cricket follower but hardly someone employed by the ECB as part of some sort of think-tank could foresee this, then why couldn't Geoff Miller? See: https://betting.betfair.com/cricket/2009-ashes/three-reasons-why-england-will-not-win-the-2009-as-030709.html

Was the middle order batting line up for the last Test the weakest England has fielded in a match against the Australians in modern times? Numerous centuries against one of the worst Test sides to ever tour England in the form of the West Indies is not the sign of a settled or successful top seven.

In any case the damage (giving away a Series lead) has been done and it is time to look forward to the deciding and final Test at The Oval. Recriminations can be dealt with after the series has finished when I look forward to an explanation and an apology from the selectors. One that's unlikely to happen.

So who should play? It is probably easier to start off with who should not play. Bopara and Bell must not play under any circumstances and I would probably drop Cook, Collingwood and Harmison too. Anderson would have to prove he is fully fit and Flintoff would have to assure us that he can bowl 32-overs of aggressive bowling in five or six spells over five days. Sadly Bopara has been mentally damaged (he can return in the future but maybe not at three) whilst Bell lacks the mandatory courage levels demanded of an Ashes competitor.

Normally I believe in planning for the future and in youth but this Oval Test has now taken on a different complexion completely. This is no longer a regular singular Test match and calls for outside-the-box-thinking. This is just not a winner takes all situation - it is more important than that! Some will call this knee jerk and over reaction but if we cannot remove the trepidation currently overwhelming the team, then we must replace it.

The next task is to visualise how we can win a one-off Test Match against an Australian side invigorated by the pasting they gave England at Headingley.

All options should be considered and it would be unwise not to play the right player needed because of semantics, age or bias. It is doubtful there are better bowlers outside the squad not selected. Unfortunately the middle order batting is a shambles so in these circumstances we should not be opposed to bringing someone back as long as they had either the credentials or the capacity to get the job done. Trescothick, Ramprakash, Key and Shah fall into this category.

Today I spoke at length with Marcus Trescothick about the malaise of the national team. Worryingly he was quick to remind me that 'these are the best players around'. When I questioned him about the clamour for his return in a one-off Test Match he answered me in his usual quiet and emphatic way "Paul, there is not a set of circumstances that could ever persuade me to return. I am retired from Test cricket, end of story". For a second time I sighed on behalf of English cricket.

Therefore we still require four batsmen and they must include the bullish Robert Key, the evergreen and stylish Mark Ramprakash, the talented Jonathan Trott and the improving Michael Carberry. In the present climate they would not only energise proceedings but almost certainly contribute more than the aforementioned. All have excellent conversion rates at County level but I fear the selectors will do nothing except for a little tinkering at the edges with just Bopara missing out.

The deciding nature of this Oval Test would mean that a gamble on Flintoff is warranted. Should Anderson not be fully fit, we will have to play Harmison. Facetiously and without apology however I would insist the bowlers and captain watch tapes of how the Australians located a line and length in the first innings at Headingley until the message was fully received.

Unparalleled excitement, pressure and nervousness builds by the day, there will be no room for faint hearts. Each catch, each wicket, each fifty will be both priceless and exquisite.

If I played Geoff Miller for a day and got to choose my squad of 12 to go into battle, injury permitting, they would be: Strauss, Carberry, Key, Ramprakash, Trott, Prior, Flintoff, Broad, Swann, Anderson or Harmison and Onions. Betfair latest prices accurately reflect the size of the task: England [5.5] Australia [2.48] Draw [2.36].

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