Efficiency the essence for improved England

New Zealand can be a frustrating opposition in more ways than one. Not only does their battling style tend to pose more problems than their overall talent might suggest; but such is their nature that there are few plaudits to be gained in victory and much ridicule to be suffered in defeat. That tends to be more true of their Test side than limited-overs outfit, with the shorter, more formulaic game logically suiting their gameplan with a strong emphasis on collective achievement in the absence of any great deal of class. But after a World Cup in which they made the last four and defeated England in the pool-stages, New Zealand have been in decline; while England, who made absolutely no impression on that tournament, have had a pleasantly surprising amount of success as their Test form has stuttered.

Without Fleming, Bond and McMillan, what was a competitive, dangerous team begins to look more electrically-powered milk float than grinding four-wheel drive. Having lost Bond, who had to bear the weight of frequent injury along with the responsibility of being a lone spearhead, and with James Franklin sidelined, there remains very little in New Zealand's bowling stock which should be capable of worrying England. Kyle Mills and Jacob Oram maybe; Daniel Vettori for sure if he can shake off an ankle niggle. But the back-up of Chris Martin, Michael Mason and Paul Hitchcock looks on the innocuous side of powderpuff. Each is in his 34th year and boasts an unfavourable ODI record; they are in a way typical of New Zealand, the one country unwilling to give up on the medium-pacer. To be fair, if there is anywhere left in the world where the redoubtable trundler can prosper, it is the land of the long white cloud; but if England capitulate, there will be much vitriol from press and public and hand-wringing from players and management.

And if England had continued in the same vein after the World Cup, it would be a very possible outcome. But evidently even they have got bored of being pants at one-day cricket, and the results under Peter Moores have generally been heartening, giving the impression that England have finally started to move forward in the more proscriptive form of the game after a long period under Duncan Fletcher when they seemed to go only backwards or sideways. Bowling has been the primary reason for the success against India and Sri Lanka; James Anderson is at home with the new white ball in his hand, complemented by Ryan Sidebottom's swing and hustle and vertical and lateral movement from Stuart Broad. Graeme Swann balances the team nicely with both bat and ball, although he will need to prove his flighted and well-spun off breaks are effective away from the slow tracks of Dambulla and Colombo where he won his place.

The opening pair retain a temporary guise, with Cook and Mustard set to resume a partnership which failed to flower in some admittedly averse conditions in Sri Lanka, but which will not survive a lack of success over 5 more games. With Marcus Trescothick set never to return, England badly need Cook to become a force for them in ODIs, primarily because there is really no-one else, evidenced by the fact he has been partnered by no specialist opener since returning to the team last May. On the positive side, Mustard could be the man to give England the sort of quick runs up-front no-one bar Trescothick has recently, and maybe even tout for a place in the Test team if he hits the jackpot. At the same time, he is keeping out a very useful one-day batsman in Tim Ambrose and will not keep his place for long on the basis of strike-rate and a quick wit.

The other area of debate in the line-up is over the No.7 position, currently in possession of Ravi Bopara. He appears deserving of a place, but there remains the essential problem that, as someone who majors on batting, he is occupying a position which is the preserve of a bowling all-rounder. As it stands, he is not having much chance to influence the game with either bat or ball; England are grateful for his presence when the main batting fails, but otherwise he tends to cut an anonymous figure, especially as Collingwood's improved medium-pace means he is really a sixth bowler. Following the double success in the 20 over games, Dimi Mascarenhas has also put his name forward; his chance was long in the coming, and despite some flickers, not least smiting Yuvraj Singh for five consecutive sixes, he looked to be surplus to requirements having watched the games in Sri Lanka from the pavilion. But Mascarenhas is evidently not one to go quietly, and emphasised his case with another burst of sixes in the first game and two tight four over spells. England will have to decide if they want the batting safety-net, fielding excellence and youthful promise of Bopara or the superior bowling and boundary hitting of the Hampshire man. With Mascarenhas, the batting is more fragile, especially if wickets tumble; on the flip-side, he has the ability to accelarate at the death more than perhaps any other English bat.

It should not matter too much against what looked a baleful New Zealand outfit in the first matches of the tour. Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori should return to increase the class and depth of both batting and bowling, but England remain favourites. Of course, no team is better than them at subverting such brash assumptions, but unless the home side finds unforseen levels of performance, a series loss would be of their own design. Hopefully those days will continue to be associated with England past rather than present, and they will record the comfortable victory the gulf in talent indicates is likely. Following impressive displays at home to India and more so in Sri Lanka, less can hardly be expected.