England have just lost a Test series, but they've kept their heads - perhaps to a fault. The 16-man squad announced this morning for the three games in New Zealand contains an unEnglish three changes (yes, you can count them on one hand) to the 17 who did battle in India. And since the only new name - Andy Caddick - is really an old one, and the two players who have been dropped - Martyn Ball and Richard Johnson - were the ones drafted in at the last minute for the India tour, there isn't a single surprise. This doesn't mean - God forbid - that the selectors have got it 100% right: more like 95. The faith shown in Jimmy Ormond is puzzling, and can probably be put down to a desire for continuity and financial considerations - he has already been paid a high retainer for his services this winter. But Ormond was pedestrian at Mohali, while Johnson had the batsmen hopping around in his only game on tour, taking three wickets in his first eight balls for England in a tour match at Jaipur. His extra pace would have been handy in New Zealand, where pitches are no longer the puddings they once were. For this reason, Durham's Steve Harmison, who is faster than both, can consider himself unlucky too.

Usman Afzaal, who didn't play at all in India, is another beneficiary of the new continuity ethos (and cash consciousness), which means Ian Bell will have to wait his turn. Not for the first time, England seem infuriatingly reluctant to introduce a talented young player - Bell is 19 - into the fray.

But the return of Graham Thorpe is a huge boost. He scored two hundreds in New Zealand in 1996-97, when he averaged nearly 62, and his duel with Chris Cairns, which Thorpe comfortably lost during England's 2-1 defeat in 1999, could hold the key to the series.

The reintroduction of Andy Caddick is a bonus too, and he will surely take the new ball with Matthew Hoggard. This still leaves England with one selection problem. If they start the first Test with these two, plus Andy Flintoff and one spinner - probably Ashley Giles - then there is only room for Craig White if they opt to bat either him or Flintoff at No. 6 again. In India this failed spectacularly: Flintoff scored just 26 runs in five innings from that position. But if they pick six proper batsmen, White, who is more at home on the slow, low pitches of the subcontinent, may be the one to miss out.

Can England really afford to drop their only centurion from the Indian series? And if not, which of Michael Vaughan, who made 64 in his last Test innings, and Mark Ramprakash, who made 58, do they drop to make way for Thorpe? These are perhaps the only tricky questions this safety-first squad throws up.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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