Caddick foolishly throws down gauntlet to Tendulkar

England bowler claims world's best one-day batsman is vulnerable as opener while Africans upset the form guide

Andrew Caddick believes India will play into England's hands tomorrow in the crucial World Cup encounter between the two countries, should Sachin Tendulkar take up his usual one-day batting position at the top of the order.

Even though Tendulkar, the most prolific batsman in the history of the World Cup, may have scored his 34th one-day international hundred for India opening the innings on Sunday, Caddick feels the little maestro is more vulnerable in this position than any other.

"I'm sure if he opens, the guys will be more than happy," the England fast bowler said. "I am more than happy because it gives us a good chance of getting him out early with the new ball. At four he will come in when the ball is slightly older, and not doing as much. It then becomes a little difficult.

"It has always been a challenge bowling at him but at the end of the day he is only human and he does make mistakes."

Chest-thumping confidence is all well and good but bold statements have a horrible habit of coming back to haunt you. The Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath makes them before each series, but he is good enough to follow them through. To throw down the gauntlet to possibly the best player in the world before a game as important as this seems dangerous. A better tactic would be to go quietly about your business until after the match.

I can see the England captain, Nasser Hussain, shaking his head ruefully. No team wants to tempt fate and Caddick has done this in the past.

The best example was on England's 1994 tour to the Caribbean. Before the first Test in Jamaica Caddick said he had seen some weaknesses in the technique of Brian Lara, the West Indian batsman, and that he intended to exploit them. Unfortunately for Caddick and England this was the series when Lara exploded on to the international scene. On top of compiling 375, the highest Test score in history, the elegant left-hander scored 798 runs at an average of 99.75.

If these figures suggest the contest was ever so slightly one-sided, it was, even if Caddick did manage to remove the Trinidadian four times on the tour.

Caddick has also had some success against Tendulkar in one-day cricket, although their World Cup records–- Caddick has taken 1 for 74 in three matches whereas Tendulkar has scored 1,380 runs at 62.73 in 22 games – do suggest it is like David bowling to Goliath.

There have only been three one-day contests between the two and in Delhi, during last winter's epic one-day series, Caddick dismissed Tendulkar – the leading run-scorer in one-day cricket with 11,867 runs at an average of 44.45 – with a beautiful delivery that the latter could only edge to the wicketkeeper.

If anybody is going to trouble the Indian batsmen, it is Caddick with his pace and bounce. He, James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff and Craig White will be hoping to replicate what the Australian pace attack did to the Indians earlier in the tournament. Against the likes of McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, they looked shell-shocked and were skittled for 125.

"Pace and bounce is a very effective tool against Indian batsmen," Caddick said. "They have always been vulnerable to it and they will continue to be because they come from a background of lower-bouncing wickets. Hopefully the pitch [in Durban] will have a little bit in it so we can exploit it."

There was good news for Michael Vaughan and England yesterday in Durban when MRI and ultrasound scans revealed there to be no major damage to the right calf of the batsman. Vaughan, who strained the muscle during his innings of 52 against Pakistan on Saturday, will continue to have intensive treatment on the injury and is hoping to join in at practice today.

England will be desperate to have their leading batsman fit for tomorrow's game against India, because it is a match they must win if they wish to avoid having to beat Australia on Sunday to reach the next stage of the World Cup.