Between now and England's first World Cup game, against Zimbabwe in Harare, Duncan Fletcher and Nasser Hussain have a maximum of 11 matches in which to fine-tune their select band of one-day storm-troopers.

The phrase is not used lightly, because if England are to emerge from southern Africa next Spring having achieved even a semblance of success, they must go in all guns blazing.

It will need a tactical rethink, some flexible captaincy and no small amount of fortune - given the susceptibility of our top stars to nagging injuries - but it is crucial, because England can't rely on Marcus Trescothick forever.

You see, the cliches are all true. The transitory nature of limited overs cricket ensures that, no matter a country's reputation as a one-day force, any side can and does beat any other on a given day. And second place in the one-day game brings nothing. There is no equal, for example, to the euphoric relief of battling out a losing draw on the fifth afternoon of a Test. Try telling Michael Atherton that his efforts in Johannesburg did not compare to any of the Test victories he helped secure during his international career.

But in limited overs cricket, if you are marginally second best, you lose, and so it all comes down to giving yourself the best chance of winning. Simple, perhaps, but at the moment England just don't appear to be doing that.

Since Sri Lanka turned one-day cricket on its head in the 1996 World Cup, exploding out of the blocks to attack bowlers in the first 15 overs rather than the last 15, every side has been forced to remodel their approach to the game.

Approaching the eighth one-day showpiece, six years on from the batting of Sanath Jayasuriya and co that was natural, pure and aggressive, England's efforts to catch up have been painful and stinted.

The knee-jerk reaction was to select almost entirely separate Test and one-day squads, in the belief that the two disciplines were mutually exclusive. It worked initially, with Adam Hollioake lifting the 1997 Singer Cup in Sharjah, but came crashing to a halt against South Africa the following summer.

And since then England have struggled to find the right balance, even though the selectors have recently shown promising continuity in the make-up of the one-day squads, stretching back to the Zimbabwe tour in 2001.

The frustrating thing is that it would appear the ideal balance they seek is right under their noses, if only they would limber up a bit, show a touch of flexibility and a dash of adventure.

The middle order must be fluid and with the rich array of talents England boast they can adapt to any situation - but the policy must primarily be to go out on the offensive, as the best in the world do.

England's bowlers are high quality, but they will have to win most matches with the bat, so the aim, first in Australia and then at the World Cup, must be to set minimum targets of 300, or have no fear in chasing totals of that size. Did India at Lord's?

Therefore, England's openers must be Trescothick, one-day batsman extraordinaire, and Alec Stewart, who is rarely bettered when taking on fast bowlers with the new ball.

England's two most naturally aggressive batsmen can take the game to the opposition when the field is up, with the intention of bringing up the first hundred before the restrictions are relaxed.

Now of course, this will not always happen, but sending Andrew Flintoff in at three can restore any lost momentum, or keep England in the ascendancy even if the 15 overs are up. It is an old argument and one Hussain is reluctant to lose, given his preference for going in first wicket down and leaving Flintoff to the end. But England have belatedly unearthed Ian Blackwell, who is raw but capable of fulfilling that job, coming in at six.

Which leaves Hussain and Michael Vaughan, both of whom can also fire off scintillating one-day knocks, to consolidate the innings, to keep the board ticking by working the ball around and puncturing the gaps, and set a solid platform for Blackwell, the reinvigorated Hollioake and Craig White (who is selected ahead of Ronni Irani on the assumption he can again bowl) for the crash, bang, whallop at the end.

This would be an ideal scenario and though unlikely to come to fruition every time, there is enough variety in the line-up to compensate for any eventuality, providing England are prepared to jog the batting order around.

There should also be the option of bringing in Nick Knight or Mark Butcher, the promising Owais Shah and spinner Ashley Giles, though the all-round qualities of Hollioake, White and Irani ought to push Paul Collingwood and Jeremy Snape to the fringes.

Either way, what Hussain has at his disposal is the opportunity to marry the aggressive run-getters with the clever manipulators (of whom Graham Thorpe is one of the best there is and his absence will be sorely missed) just as Australia do.

Their World Cup winning top six in 1999 read like a dream: Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh to open, followed by Ricky Ponting, Darren Lehman and Steve Waugh before Michael Bevan, the greatest one-day exponent of the lot came in at six to guide home the tail. There are few better at pacing a run-chase or eking every last run out of available overs, and England could find a similar role for the likes of Mark Butcher, Vaughan or White should they so desire.

By this year's ICC Champions Trophy, Australia had replaced the Waughs with Matthew Hayden at the top of the order and Damien Martyn in the middle, but maintained the successful balancing act.

There is no guarantee of winning, as Australia found to their cost against Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy semi-final, but they do give themselves the very best chances and believe they can.

England, who lost to India at Lord's despite posting a target of 306, must use the VB Series to develop a similar psyche, especially after the recent disappointment of the Champions Trophy - and what better way than beating the Aussies in their own back yard.

Hussain and Fletcher have performed wonders for the Test side, reeling off a string of impressive displays and fostering a winning habit that was evident in no clearer way than in beating Sri Lanka at Old Trafford.

And the same pairing should lead the one-day side into battle. True, it appears time for a fresher approach, but a slight tactical shift would allow that to come from the ranks.

And if the force is with England's match-winners, then who knows?

Leafy
Barmy Army

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