THE name Eddo Brandes should be cropping up again soon, because the Harare chicken farmer, who humiliated Michael Atherton's England team two years ago, has been included in a provisional list of Zimbabwe players selected to contest the five-day 'Test' and three one-day internationals against the England A tourists.

Brandes' hat-trick helped to complete Zimbabwe's 3-0 one-day series success against England and heaped the final insult on David Lloyd after the England coach's exasperated verdict on the drawn Test in Bulawayo that England had ``murdered 'em''.

England's indifferent diplomacy and a supposedly arrogant attitude during their short tour surprised their hosts and upset several of those closely connected with Zimbabwean cricket, including Alastair Campbell, the captain, but John Emburey, Lloyd's assistant coach, said yesterday that the whole episode was a result of a strategy that had backfired.

Emburey, back in Harare as coach of the England A tour, said that the England of two years ago wanted to present an unyielding front, and his explanation implied that management policy was to blame for the furore rather than the players.

He explained: ``I don't think people knew about it at the time, but the big thing was that we decided to concentrate on 'us'. It's difficult, when the dressing-rooms are next door, to totally ignore the opposition, especially when they're trying to be friendly. We went out there to be aggressive, playing hard but fair. It just didn't work out. Zimbabwe played exceptionally well and showed us what teamwork was all about.''

Emburey guaranteed that the present England A tour under Michael Vaughan would be ``totally opposite'' to the Atherton one. He said his tourists were a young and ``very sociable'' side.

``They are very much aware of what our responsibilities are as England cricketers and they also realise what they've got to do as a cricket team, and that is to win. We'll be mixing with the opposition and we'll be drinking with them after the game. We'll go back to some of the older ways.''

A rainstorm ruled out England's afternoon practice yesterday, though they managed some rough and ready nets for a couple of hours at the Alexandra Sports Club near their hotel in Harare. Their first match is against a Country District team at the Harare South ground on Saturday.