|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
Organised chaos starts here Wisden CricInfo staff - January 10, 2002
England squad England's one-day squad gathered this morning at the imposing Marriott Hotel near Heathrow airport, like schoolmates reassembling for a new term. Eleven uninterrupted ODIs in India and New Zealand await them, and the mood was a mixture of quiet nervousness and jocular relaxation. Marcus Trescothick sat in the foyer, nibbling his fingernails; Nick Knight studiously pored over The Times; Ashley Giles acknowledged acquaintances with a nod of the head and a smile; James Foster strolled around proudly in his England tracksuit; Darren Gough appeared sporting a pair of shades and his permanent cheeky grin; and Duncan Fletcher, for once, was engaged in some light-hearted but lengthy banter. But the press had come to listen to Nasser Hussain, who in India had managed to lose a series but improve his standing. It was easy to see why. He was laid-back, articulate, cheery - and gave a string of straight answers that would put another leader of the country, Tony Blair, to shame. Fletcher is the brains behind the team, but Hussain is its public face. He was quite happy, for instance, to reveal that after just one net session on the Test tour of India, it was Fletcher who astutely observed: "We need Andrew Flintoff." Nasser, though, had some forthright views of his own on team selection. England were unlikely to play Andy Caddick, Darren Gough and Matthew Hoggard in the same XI, he said, because "we need a longer batting line-up". He said he didn't yet know the make-up of the side for the first game in India, in Calcutta on January 19, but his paean of praise for Hoggard suggested Caddick might start as 12th man. "The other two [Caddick and Gough] have done nothing wrong. They are proven performers and it's nice to have them back. But Hoggard has done well nearly every time he has put on an England shirt. He is an exceptional white-ball bowler. That's what got him in the side - a game I saw in the B&H for Yorkshire when he knocked over Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe, Adam Hollioake. It's important to take wickets with the white kookaburra." But Hussain was keen to stress that every place was up for grabs, and used the words "healthy competition" with almost glowing pride. "Our first aim is to continue the sort of mentality, team spirit and bonding we created in Zimbabwe," he said. "Winning is the most important thing, but we've got to play well too. In India we played very good cricket in the last two Tests and it brought everyone together. It will be organised chaos in the one-day games in India, but we've got to stick together as a unit." "We've got the nucleus of the World Cup squad now - we don't have enough cricket to start messing around." Asked whether there was a way back for Alec Stewart, Hussain was quite frank: "We're not good enough to dismiss anyone - whether they're 18 or 40." It was typical of the sort of pragmatism that has characterised the Hussain-Fletcher reign. But there's ambition too. "We've learnt from other sides," Hussain stressed. "Now we've got to be proactive, not just reacting to what the other teams do. We've got to set the trends now, and other sides have got to say 'That's a good idea!'" For the fourth time in just over a year, England head for the subcontinent as overwhelming underdogs. But he's ready for the challenge: "If you can't absorb yourself in cricket in India," he said, "you're really struggling." England may struggle, but it won't be for lack of planning.
|
|
|
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
|
