Dawn of a New Era?

Dawn of a new era?

All three teams in the NatWest One Day International Series that concluded this month with England's sensational victory over South Africa at the Oval bore little resemblance to their respective sides who slumped out of the World Cup just four months ago. Now I ask, have the re-building jobs been successful?

ZIMBABWE came into the series ear-marked as the whipping boys and it was to the surprise of the vast majority of the cricketing public when they pulled off a shock victory over England in the opening game on a bowler's wicket at Trent Bridge, thanks to Grant Flower and Stuart Matsikenyeri's resilience. Skipper Heath Streak, as ever, bore the brunt of the load, but the rest of the bowling attack tended to make as much headway as a rubber dinghy in a cyclone, and was about as watertight. Left-arm spinner Ray Price emerged with credit but seamers Doug Hondo, Travis Friend, Andy Blignaut and Sean Ervine have a long way to go before establishing themselves as Internationals.

The batting line up was carried to a large extent by Flower - their one remaining truly class strokemaker - and Matsikenyeri finally started to adapt to International cricket. However, there was little support from the rest of the side, with the exception of Streak, whose two fifties saved his side from complete embarrassment on both occasions. Travis Friend made one big innings, but Dion Ebrahim, Richard Sims, Doug Marillier, Charles Coventry and company still have a way to go before the rest of the International world is quaking in its boots, whilst young Tatenda Taibu kept well and is likely to grow (well.. not literally) into Streak's shoes as captain.

SOUTH AFRICA, similarly, showed more cause for concern than optimism as their support bowling, whilst not as impotent as the Zimbabweans', often left Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini with too much to do. Paul Adams performed competently as the spin option, as did Martin van Jaarsveld when called upon as a part-timer, but Andre Nel, Nicky Boje and Charl Langeveldt still do not seem right up to the mark, and how Allan Dawson ever got an International call-up is beyond me. Andy Hall took wickets but at times was very expensive, however his big-hitting assures himself of a future place in the side.

The batting seems more solid, with the two Jacques - Kallis and Rudolph - both showing their talents with several crucial innings. Herschelle Gibbs was a disappointment, and Graeme Smith's series will be more remembered for his frequent failure to engage brain before opening mouth than any performance with the willow, where he often stuttered when he needed to perform the most. Mark Boucher, both with the gloves and bat, was solid as ever, whilst Martin van Jaarsveld looks to have a good temperament, but Morne van Wyk seems little more than a pinch-hitter, and the side's two top and middle order collapses against England show that there is still much to work on.

ENGLAND, winners of the series, have much to thank their bowling attack for. James Anderson, Darren Gough, Richard Johnson and Andrew Flintoff all performed at the best of their abilities throughout the tournament and were easily the most impressive pace quartet. The much-maligned Ashley Giles did his job effectively, and when he finally went around the wicket struck twice as South Africa capitulated in the final. None of Rikki Clarke, Steve Harmison and Anthony McGrath impressed over the course of the series, but of the three McGrath seems to be of the most use to fill in overs with wicket-to-wicket outswing. Clarke and Harmison in particular do not have the control for ODI cricket based on this series' showings.

With the bat, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff were the major players in England's run accumulation with Vikram Solanki - finally seeming to come of age Internationally - and skipper Michael Vaughan, whose effectiveness both with the blade and as leader grew throughout the series, wading in with important contributions. The middle order, however, is where problems still lie. Anthony McGrath showed 'stickability' but questions remain over whether he can score fast enough for one-day internationals, whilst Robert Key should never be allowed near an England ODI shirt again. Rikki Clarke, allegedly in possession of a "big-match temperament", showing an alarming tendency to get himself out stupidly (see the match report on the final for a full description...) and Jim Troughton seemed as scratchy and indecisive as he did against Pakistan - the class of Paul Collingwood and Graham Thorpe is still sorely missed. Chris Read, however, hardly put a foot wrong and grabbed his second International chance with both hands - in pretty much the same manner as anything else that came in his direction.

So the verdict? There's still some way to go for all three sides, but the first steps in the right direction are always the hardest, and all three sides can take positivies out of the series as the groundwork for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies continues.

Posted by Neil