England stands still

Another minnow and another win for England today. They will claim that the two points was what they came for, and this is fair, but with the double-warhead of Sri Lanka and Australia looming large, a performance was what the team and the fans were crying out for. A side low on confidence, England have had three games against distinctly inferior opposition; three chances to impose themselves and build some self-belief. Three chances wasted.

In truth, once both openers had been put back in the hutch by the lively Rankin, the prospects of a dominating performace were all but lost. Joyce remains a frustration; as much as his off-side strokeplay is pleasing on the eye when he is ticking, ugly dismissals such as his raising of the drawbridge to a straight ball today will only increase the rumblings for Andrew Strauss to be recalled. Almost as bad was Vaughan, perishing to a shot he needn't have played, and one which would not have brought him runs anyway.

Ian Bell's catatonic 31, scored at less than a run every other ball, did nobody any favours, least of all himself. When in form Bell is a very capable performer, not least in one-day cricket, as he showed at the end of the last English summer with some well paced knocks. But when he struggles, he cannot even execute the basic requirement of rotating the strike. All he needed to do today was to pick the gaps, take singles and let Pietersen play the shots. That he was unable to do this does not bode well for the rest of the tournament, especially as there is no ready made replacement for him in the squad.

Once againit was left to England's middle order to save the day. Pietersen played well, as he has all tournament; however, a player of his class getting out for 48 against harmless bowling is unforgivable. There was nothing to stop him powering on to a century - a landmark he has not achieved since he notched three against South Africa two years ago. Flintoff was strangely subdued, and seems to have lost the confidence to commit to some slogging. Collingwood is a man in form, and it showed, as he paced his innings perfectly. He did not worry about his pedestrian start, and cleared the boundary three times, finishing with 90 at a rate comfortably above a run a ball. His combination at the death with Nixon, who continued to prove his worth, helped England to piullage 94 off the last ten overs, lifting them to a respectable score. If only these two could pass on some of their self-confidence to the rest of the team.

267 was always likely to be out of Ireland's reach, especially after the early dismissals of class-acts Bray and Morgan. Yet England still made an unholy mess of finishing the job, with the pace bowling distinctly average. Anderson did not swing the ball, and was a bit flustered, whilst Mahmood, after a good first spell, disappeared when he returned later. Flintoff, although he took 4, still looked laboured as he has all tournament.

More pleasing was the spin bowling; Panesar delivered the sort of accurate and incisive spell now expected of him and it was good to see Vaughan, an underrated off-break bowler, bowl nine ecenomical overs, snaring top scorer O'Brien in the process. Nevertheless, England find themselves in something of a pickle over the opening bowlers; Anderson should and will be persevered with, but the mystifying decision to dispense with Plunkett and employ the unconvincing Mahmood leaves them nowhere as to deciding on his partner. It may well be wise to turn to Jon Lewis rather than risk one of the tyros against the power of Sri Lanka and Australia. All the same, the Durham paceman will be justifiably miffed; he was the man in possession, and was dumped without having a chance to prove his credentials either way.

England will claim that the run glut in the last ten overs of their innings justifies their tactic of "back to basics", that is providing a solid platform and keeping wickets in hand for some slap and ticklr at the death. But in coining the tagline of John Major's equally unsuccessful 1992 initiative, they also seem to be playing a brand of cricket which has been out of date since then. If they think that they can get away with ignoring the power-play overs, then they are burying their heads in the sand. Ever since fielding restrictions were introduced, the sensible tactic has been to hit out at the beginning and end of the innings and consolidate in the middle. In the course of the next week, England will come up against Jayasuriya, Tharanga, Hayden, Gilchrist and Ponting; there will be some harsh lessons learnt, lessons that have failed to percolate through to the England hierarchy depsite the timely refreshers given last summer by the Sri Lankans and in the early part of the CB series but two months ago. It is too late for this campaign, but in the aftermath England need to find an opener who is really capable of filling Trescothiock's boots (that is unless the man himself can make a comeback). That does not mean promoting Pietersen or Flintoff either; Smith, Jayasuriya, Hayden, Gayle, these are all men who open for the Test teams as well. Possibly only Gilchrist, who is a one-off, achieves success away from his natural position.

In nine days time, after England have played Australia, they will have a good idea of what future this World Cup holds for them. If they can claim one win ut of two, then qualification is a real possibiltiy. If, as is likely, they have been on the end of two sound beatings, then it is back to Blighty and time for England to update the way they play the one-day game