Maynard in England's world view

England heralded the one-day section of their long winter yesterday by naming a provisional squad of 30 for the World Cup. It contained a strange mix of will-bes, has-beens, never-weres and if-onlys as well as the 15 who will actually be in South Africa next February, which may be a similar combination.

It will have little bearing on preparations either for the tournament or for the VB Series, the triangular competition which starts in Sydney on Friday, and its main purpose appears to be to meet International Cricket Council requirements rather than single out the best 30 one-day players. There was a place, surely his last in any England squad provisional or otherwise, for Matthew Maynard of Glamorgan, but none for Alistair Brown of Surrey, who has laid waste to one-day bowling attacks round the shires.

The inclusion of Anthony McGrath of Yorkshire may be a nod to his sound limited-overs form last summer but also demonstrates that England will stop at nothing to have their very own McGrath. If only there was a county pro called Warne he might have received a call.

It is not difficult to deduce that the first 15 names on the list, as issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board, are likely to form the World Cup cadre. Only 12 of them were to have been on duty in the first part of the VB Series. That number was further reduced yesterday when it was confirmed that Jeremy Snape had a thumb broken by a ball from Brett Lee in England's warm-up match against New South Wales.

England's party in Australia now appears not to have been selected but to have been cobbled together at the last minute, which usually ensures coming apart at the seams. Signs of this process were uncomfortably apparent during their one-day warm-up match against New South Wales on Thursday. England were beaten by eight wickets. Crushed again.

There really is only so much planning you can do for the type of calamities which are beginning to afflict England at every turn. Only the news that Andrew Flintoff at last appears to be shaking off the effects of his hernia operation is good. Duncan Fletcher, the side's coach, reported that the all-rounder is running with much more freedom. Of course, there is still time for constriction to set in again.

The VB Series is positively the last staging post on the way to the World Cup. Do well in it against Australia and Sri Lanka, and England will have reason to believe that they can go on to avoid the ignominy which befell them in the World Cups of both 1996 and 1999, when they were an embarrassment. Do badly (that is, fail to reach the final) and everybody should prepare themselves for an early departure from Port Elizabeth in February.

Win the VB and England will deserve a VC. The tournament is divided into two, before the final two matches in the Ashes in late December and early January, and after them. If England are unready it is largely because of the injury plague but partly because it is more than three years since they were dumped out of the last World Cup in the preliminary stages on home soil, and still they have no definitive strategy.

For instance, 10 weeks before the biggest of all limited-overs competitions, which can also lay fair claim to being the most important of any kind, England have called on Steve Harmison for the first time. Forget that it would not have happened if Darren Gough had been fit, forget that Harmison is frequently not part of Durham's one-day squad (a total of only 24 one-day league matches for them since his debut in 1998). England may have spotted something in him that Durham have not. But as his initial call-up to a Test squad was in May 2000 it has taken some time to notice his potential contribution.

A different way of looking at all this is that England are already beginning to plan for the World Cup after this one. That preliminary squad at least contains a smattering of youth, which seems to suggest that if they do the right things at the right time they may not be in South Africa in 2003 but can anticipate a trip to the West Indies in 2007.

There persists the feeling that England have still not fully embraced the significance of the one-day game. No longer po-faced about its crucial place in the furtherance of the international game, they still cannot quite conceal the impression that are paying lip service to it when it requires silver service.

It was agreed after the 1999 World Cup that something would have to be done. England have played in fits and starts since. Of their 55 matches they have won 25, but 13 of those victories have been against Zimbabwe. The figure of 55 is a telling one. England are always banging on about the amount of cricket their players must undertake and how little time there is for honing skills.

All the other countries, barring Bangladesh and Kenya, have played many more matches, ranging from India's 111 to Australia's 78, and gained corrresponding experience. Since 1999, England have (so far) picked 16 new players in their attempt to fashion a different team. It is safe to say that eight of those will not taking part in the World Cup, which might not be a woeful disposal rate,but it is notable that Australia have embraced only nine new players in the same period.

It is also worryingly significant that not a ball bowled in the VB Series and the World Cup will be shown on terrestrial television in England, save perhaps on the odd news clip. It is a similar situation in home series during the summer. Nobody should doubt the sophisticated allure of Test cricket, equally nobody should forget what fills the coffers around the cricketing globe.

The effect of England winning a World Cup, any World Cup, would be tremendous. The game's profile would never have received a boost like it, and although it is possibly wrong and definitely heretical to say it, that might include regaining the Ashes.

So, what are the chances in Australia in the next few weeks? They reside between slim and none, and doubtless slim just got injured.

V B Series squad: Hussain, Kabir Ali, Blackwell, Caddick, Collingwood, Flintoff, Harmison, Irani, Key, Kirtley, Knight, Shah, Stewart, Trescothick, White, A N Other (to replace Snape).

VB Series: 13 Dec: Australia v England (Sydney, d/n); 15 Australia v England (Melbourne, d/n); 17 England v Sri Lanka (Brisbane, d/n); 20 England v Sri Lanka (Perth, d/n); 22 Australia v Sri Lanka (Perth, d/n); 9 Jan Australia v Sri Lanka (Sydney, d/n); 11 Australia v England (Hobart); 13 England v Sri Lanka (Sydney, d/n); 15 Australia v Sri Lanka ((Brisbane, d/n); 17 England v Sri Lanka (Adelaide, d/n); 19 Australia v England (Adelaide, d/n); 21 Australia v Sri Lanka (Melbourne, d/n); 23 1st Final (Sydney, d/n); 25 2nd Final (Melbourne, d/n); 27 3rd Final (if required; tba).

World Cup squad

N Hussain (Essex, Capt)
M E Trescothick (Somerset)
N V Knight (Warwickshire)
M P Vaughan (Yorkshire)
O A Shah (Middlesex)
A J Stewart (Surrey)
R C Irani (Essex)
P D Collingwood (Durham)
A Flintoff (Lancashire)
C White (Yorkshire)
I D Blackwell (Somerset)
J N Snape (Leicestershire)
A F Giles (Warwickshire)
A R Caddick (Somerset)
M P Hoggard (Yorkshire)
R J Kirtley (Sussex)
R W T Key (Kent)
D I Stevens (Leicestershire)
V S Solanki (Worcestershire)
A McGrath (Yorkshire)
M P Maynard (Glamorgan)
A J Hollioake (Surrey)
C M W Read (Nottinghamshire)
R J Dawson (Yorkshire)
M J Saggers (Kent)
K W Hogg (Lancashire)
Kabir Ali (Worcestershire)
S J Harmison (Durham)
R J Sidebottom (Yorkshire)
J M Anderson (Lancashire)