Tudor's chance to stake a claim for World Cup place

Paceman out to make the most of opportunity to impress on one-day debut against Sri Lanka today

With the 2003 World Cup fast approaching, this summer's triangular series, offers the England captain Nasser Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher, the ideal opportunity to finalise, then put in place, their one-day strategy for the tournament that starts in South Africa in February.

Time, it seems, is now at a premium for the two men who have virtually run English cricket since the team's disastrous 1999 World Cup campaign. Final decisions on selection need to be made sooner rather than later and such judgements over the roles players will play in the teams they select, must start here today during the day-night match against Sri Lanka.

England showed some encouraging one-day form in India and New Zealand during the winter, but since the 1999 debacle their overall record is mediocre. The 46 one-day internationals played in this period have produced 21 wins, 24 defeats and one no result. This win-loss ratio needs to start improving immediately.

Since 1999, they have used 36 different players of which only 12 have played more than 20 games. With four of that 12 (Graeme Hick, Mark Ealham, Allan Mullally and Craig White) seemingly out of the equation, and with only eight months and approximately 15 games to go before the squad fly out, now is the time to stop experimenting. If Hussain and Fletcher are not yet happy with the players involved, they need to be by the end of this tournament.

The absence of England's two senior bowlers Darren Gough – who, after the negative news about his injured right knee on Tuesday, was surprisingly seen bowling in the nets here yesterday – and Andrew Caddick will not have helped planning. The one positive, perhaps, is the opportunity it presents for the likes of Alex Tudor, who appears likely to be the 37th player used when he makes his one-day debut today, and James Kirtley to show their mettle. Should they impress, the selectors will then have viable options if either Gough or Caddick are injured before or during the World Cup.

Putting the right one-day game-plan in place is a difficult proposition because it has to work around the ability of the players available. While it is impossible to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, the performance of the Germany side during football's World Cup shows what can be achieved through discipline and organisation.

England need these two qualities to have any chance of success both in this NatWest series and the World Cup. Hussain and Fletcher do not have a Tendulkar, Warne, Lara, or McGrath to call on – players who are capable of winning a game on their own. The lack of such world beaters necessitates consistent team contributions.

Hence, there is also a greater demand for specialist players in lieu of bits and pieces cricketers. England need players who consistently perform to a high standard in the three skills of the game; batting, bowling and fielding.

The captains and coaches of each team challenging in South Africa would ideally like their side to contain the following players; eight batsmen capable of scoring in excess of 50 runs a game, six bowlers who can be called upon to bowl their allocation in the most economical of fashions and a reliable wicketkeeper. This ideal adds up to a requirement of 15 cricketers, which obviously does not go into 11, unless of course you have at least four all-rounders at your disposal.

At present England can lay claim to only two true all-rounders, Alec Stewart and Andrew Flintoff. Ashley Giles and Tudor, who Fletcher and Hussain believe can develop into all-rounders, are currently bowlers who bat a bit while Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood are batsmen who can bowl a bit.

For England to become a better one-day side they need to either strengthen the weaker parts of these four cricketers' games, or unearth another all-rounder – a player who can hold his place in the side as a batsman or a bowler. But the all-rounder cupboard is looking pretty bare, following White's loss of form with the ball and the tragic death of Ben Hollioake. Ronnie Irani, after a wonderful start to the season with Essex, will be given a chance to stake his claim, but the jury is out on whether he is up to it. So the challenge is there for Giles, Tudor, Vaughan and Collingwood, whose places in the team are by no means assured, to get in the nets and transform themselves into the answer the selectors are seaching for.

Another player who could help England's plight in this area is Marcus Trescothick. The Somerset opener, who occasionally kept wicket during the winter, has shown he is a talented cricketer. However he is also a reasonable medium-pace bowler, and why he has not been asked to do so regularly is a bit of a mystery. It may be injury or perhaps apathy, but whatever it is he should be encouraged to take inspiration from one Graham Gooch, who performed more than respectably with a ball in hand on more than the odd occasion.

For England this is an important 18 days. Not only do their players have a lot to gain, they also have a lot to lose.

ENGLAND (probable) v Sri Lanka (Trent Bridge, today): N Hussain (Essex, capt), N V Knight (Warwickshire), M E Trescothick (Somerset), G P Thorpe (Surrey), P D Collingwood (Durham), A J Stewart (Surrey, wkt), A Flintoff (Lancashire), A J Tudor (Surrey), A F Giles (Warwickshire), R J Kirtley (Sussex), M J Hoggard (Yorkshire).

SRI LANKA (from): S T Jayasuriya (capt), R S Kaluwitharana (wkt), K C Sangakkara, D P Jayawardene, M S Atapattu, R P Arnold, T Samaraweera, U D U Chandana, C R D Fernando, W P U J Vaas, M N Nawaz, T C B Fernando, G P Wickramasinghe.

* Virender Sehwag scored 98 and Saurav Ganguly 68 as India beat Leicestershire by 54 runs at Grace Road yesterday. The tourists made 315 for 7, while Leicestershire, despite 95 from Trevor Ward, could manage only 261 for 7 in reply.