Rain forces abandonment

By Ted Corbett

LONDON, JULY 9. Another day, another failure by the `thick' England batsmen as the captain Alec Stewart called them after the defeat by Zimbabwe on Sunday. And, on a happier note, another success from the man of the moment Marcus Trescothick in the second match of the week-end against West Indies at Lord's.

The match was washed out long before the scheduled close, with the sides receiving a point each, and opening up the intriguing possibility that England may not qualify for the final on July 22.

If Zimbabwe beats West Indies in Canterbury on Tuesday, the rest of the competition may revolve round attempts by West Indies and England, the two sides who were supposed to eliminate Zimbabwe with ease, competing for the other final place.

Jimmy Adams is another leader who is clearly far from impressed with the efforts of his men. He fumed throughout the final stages of the beating from Zimbabwe in Bristol and today he glared too often for the comfort of his fielders. He had done his share by winning the toss on a gloomy day, ideal for swing bowling, and seen the conditions wasted by the young and not-so- young pace attack. The only steady spell came from the languid off-spin of Chris Gayle, Carl Hooper without the dynamic action, but casually effective.

Trescothick was straight back into his stride. Now that he has got used to international cricket in the last 24 hours he is even more confident and although he could not lay a bat on the first six balls from Franklyn Rose he was soon driving the ball on the up, dabbing it through the slip area and racing up and down for threes.

Stewart went for 21 at 23 and by the time Hick had gone at 41, Trescothick had clearly got an eye on another considerable score. One extra cover drive remains in the memory; even though he is a big man it relied entirely on timing. Although he can defend stoutly, the scoreboard is rarely still when he is on strike and after Matthew Maynard, a failure at this level, had failed to add another run to his three from Saturday, he found the ideal partner in Graham Thorpe.

They put on 52 before Trescothick was caught and bowled by Gayle in the 26th over and trudged off desolate that a second fifty had eluded him. How the selectors treat him now will show their mettle as much as his.

He is due to leave the party now that Nasser Hussain and Nick Knight are fit again but dare they carry out such a kamikaze act of nonsense.

Thorpe batted on, almost by numbers, turning the ball into the gaps as if he had placed the fielders himself. He had minor support from Craig White, who replaced the bulging Andrew Flintoff, and Mark Ealham but when the storms came at 157 for eight in the 43rd over it was clear that England were not going to reach a score remotely capable of worrying Brian Lara and Co. even if rain forced a decision based on calculations from the Duckworth-Lewis tables.

Flintoff made nought, fielded clumsily and bowled four overs for 20 runs against Zimbabwe. He has clearly put on weight, a foolishness for a professional sportsman and, just as clearly, the selectors have decided he must be brought to heel.

Whether that is the right treatment for a young pup requires debate. Better surely to give him the confidence that goes with a regular place and rely on growing maturity, camaraderie and good sense to keep his weight down.

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