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The England selectors will announce their deliberations today on which 17 players will go to South Africa this winter. They have met twice in the past week and are in the mood for change. There will be casualties; as Lord MacLaurin indicated yesterday, some surprising ones.

Alec Stewart, Mark Ramprakash and Phil Tufnell stand in the line of the chairman's fire and there are sound reasons for dropping all three. Ramprakash has the strongest case for retention but if he survives, he will be under orders to mend his ways. His face is much too long.

The problem that faces the selectors is not so much personnel. They could find 17 different players at the drop of a hat. Rather, it is the atmosphere around the dressing-room that must be changed. The England team have developed a damaging insularity that has restricted the growth of players.

In 14 successive Tests, England have conceded a first-innings lead. This summer, they did not make 200 in the first innings against New Zealand. This has less to do, as some in respectable quarters have alleged, with luck as it has to do with talent and application. Too many people have let the side down too often.

However much well-intentioned people may feel that kind words and other blandishments will help England to 'fail better', the selectors must take a stronger view. This is a time for hard choices, not soft evasions.

Stewart first. He has played 90 Tests and made 12 hundreds but he is now 36 and is getting neither younger nor better. He should have been dropped after the World Cup, as this column has maintained all along, allowing Nasser Hussain to settle into the captaincy and serving as a warning to others that no man is indispensable.

Next, Ramprakash. He has batted for too long at No 6, with the tail for company. He should be told he is going to South Africa as the first-choice No 3, and instructed to cheer up. At the moment, he looks like he is walking towards the gallows when he goes out to bat.

Tufnell is a different case. He may be the best slow left-arm bowler in England but that is like being the most celebrated poet in Belgium. Ashley Giles, an inferior bowler, is a better batsman and fielder and those qualities will be needed on the pace-friendly pitches of South Africa.

Being a 'good tourist' is not to be despised. For too long, England players have cut a desultory appearance overseas. What is needed, other than talent, is enthusiasm and a bit of curiosity. For that reason, Nick Knight, of Warwickshire, is a decent contender.

Although he has played 12 Tests, it is not yet known whether Knight is an international cricketer or not. He made a very good hundred against Pakistan in Leeds three years ago, which suggests he has talent, and being left-handed, and a fine fielder, strengthens his case.

Best of all, he is a good chap who would bring an attractive personality to a touring party. So, too, might Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, who suddenly finds himself in the queue. Adams would be a punt. He has played first-class cricket for a decade and has an average lower than 40. It would not necessarily be a bad choice but Knight should take precedence.

Of the younger batsmen, Darren Maddy and Michael Vaughan stand out. Vaughan, who captained the A tour last winter, looks to have the brighter future but he has not done as well as he should for Yorkshire this year. Maddy, who played at the Oval, should not be dropped on the basis of his failure there.

Chris Read ought to be the wicketkeeper, for the simple reason that he was identified two months ago and has the makings of a long-term custodian of the gloves. He is no Alan Knott, nor is he ever likely to be, but he was spotted and should be encouraged.

The man who should go with him is Paul Nixon, the Cumbrian who plays for Leicestershire. Nixon is not a flawless gloveman but he is a flinty character, as befits a farmer, and he can bat. Failing that, the selectors should go back to Warren Hegg, who went to Australia last winter.

Andrew Flintoff must be the all-rounder, though room could also be found for Gavin Hamilton. Flintoff should certainly have started the Test series against New Zealand and ought to benefit greatly from his first senior winter tour.

Assuming that Darren Gough is fit, he will open the bowling. Alex Tudor is a bigger doubt. He never seems to play more than two matches in a row and for a 21-year-old, that is alarming. Like Gough, he must meet rigorous fitness requirements before he gets on the plane.

Andrew Caddick and Alan Mullally should also be there, and Dean Headley has never let the side down. The sixth bowler really ought to be Ed Giddins, who bowled well on his debut at the Oval and has an exemplary fitness record.

As a second spinner, England should take Graeme Swann, of Northamptonshire, who was called up for the last Test, as a case of 'plant you now, dig you later'. At 20, he is one for the next decade and this is a good tour to get him involved at the level to which he aspires.