New faces will help us avoid sad winter

Stewart and Gough have had their problems with Lord?s after opting out of the India Test tour while five others who were under central contracts last summer will not be on the plane to Zimbabwe tonight.

Yet again the Aussies left us licking our wounds after a summer of toil (I know all about that after one for 174 in the final Test at The Oval) and, let me assure you, Zimbabwe on their turf will be no pushovers either.

Remember Ed ?the chicken farmer? Brandes, the hat-trick hero of Harare? And what about the then England coach David Lloyd?s immortal quote from the top of a hill in Bulawayo? ?We flippin murdered ?em.? Oops! Clang! Not good memories at all.

They certainly won?t let us forget these past indiscretions and the comments will all be used to fire up the proud Zimbabwe players.

These ?Zims? can play a bit, too, and under the captaincy of Andy Flower, who is one of the best knocking around, they have always been a tough nut to crack, especially in the one-day game. Statistically, I think it is quite even between the teams of late.

England have struggled in onedayers for quite some time, ever since a certain left-arm spinner took four for 22 in his last one day match. However, this is the perfect opportunity for some of the new faces to really stake their claim for the World Cup in South Africa in 2003 and, in doing so, push themselves towards Test selection.

Mind you, if they perform too well in the one-dayers, they need to be mindful of being classed as one-day specialists and not be considered for Tests. James Kirtley, who has been a more than solid performer for Sussex, my Middlesex team-mate Owais Shah and the new wicketkeeping hope, James Foster, are guys who have all the attributes for international cricket.

Let?s hope they take their chances, which I also hope will be extended to them for a suitable amount of time. Not wishing to criticise, but, over the past year or so, our one-day cricket team have looked a bit of a mess. People have been brought in and played only a very few matches before being discarded.

The selectors and coach Duncan Fletcher must be planning for the future. They must stick with what they believe to be the right group of guys and create a unit who compliment each other?s games and who can grow together as a team ready to peak for the World Cup in 18 months time.

One-day cricket is an art, you have to have the knack, mental ability and agility to play it very well in every department. Fletcher will have a plan, but he must be flexible enough to change when he needs to. Watch the new boys carefully, but give them a chance to prove themselves.

One-day cricket really is important at international level, as was shown in the summer by the Aussies, who gained the upper hand from the few matches contested before the Tests started. The old adage of winning becoming a habit is valid for both Tests and one-day matches.

We need a bit of structure in our one-day game and we need to start here and now to ensure we witness another winning winter for English cricket. I?m sure we will.