English selectors in the firing line again

By Ted Corbett

LONDON, AUG. 11. Sunday marks the start of Britain's grouse shooting season and whatever party is chosen for the fourth Test against Australia at Headingley it will almost certainly put the selectors in the firing line too. With only one victory in the last 16 Tests and one-day internationals they are already used to ducking volleys of fire but Sunday's machine gun bursts promise to be special.

Injuries have caused David Graveney, the chairman, and his fellow selectors, to conduct their first prolonged debate by mobile phone. Mark Ramprakash, who hurt his hamstring playing football this week, is the latest but he is expected to be fit and Nasser Hussain has spent the last two days with the Essex second team proving his broken finger is ready.

I'd say he needs to keep his fingers crossed but as that gesture would almost certainly result in another break I'll keep quiet. Ramprakash will be lucky to keep his place after dashing down the pitch in an attempt to hit Shane Warne out of the ground but the paucity of reserves means he will play, if fit.

Graham Thorpe, who is sure not to recover in time for the final Test on August 23, and Michael Vaughan, who has tried to play for both his club and the Yorkshire second team this week but been thwarted by rain, will not be chosen. Vaughan's county colleagues Matthew Hoggard and Chris Silverwood are also suffering from strains.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced this week that it cannot pick a one-day international squad for Zimbabwe in October because so many young players are injured. It is an all- round mess but that is far from new as England does its best to deny the improvements of the new millennium.

So, whether you live in Chennai, Mumbai or the Maldives, your guess is as good as the mine about the eventual composition of the party.

Graveney swore immediately after the third Test that ``Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart can play as long as they wish,'' but there is a case for leaving both out. Of course, Atherton is still England's finest batsman and his partnership with Marcus Trescothick is a success but he is almost sure to quit at the end of the season.

Stewart talks two contrasting games. Sometimes he hints at retirement; sometimes he wants to play on; and we can all sympathise with the feelings of a great player reluctant to stand down even though his powers are waning.

I feel the selectors will keep as many of the team together as possible although they will drop all-rounder Craig White and may leave out Ian Ward who has scored only 68 runs in six innings. White's 186 against Lancashire was so badly devalued by the quality of the Lancashire bowling that he might have gained more credit from a first ball nought.

Any recently retired player with aspirations towards coaching - and a distinct masochistic streak - should write to Lancashire which has no idea who it wants to replace Bob Simpson with. There is a whisper that the men in suits are already looking for a new coach in case Duncan Fletcher decides to take up another offer in the aftermath of a 0-5 series result and that Fletcher is seeking a new assistant coach.

The selectors - Graveney, Fletcher, Hussain and former Test all- rounder Geoff Miller - have already called up 20 players for Tests this season and they may bring back Alan Mullally for the Headingley Test and Phil Tufnell for the Oval match. That means that the figure of 29 achieved in 1989 will remain the record, unless there are more injuries, although Owais Shah is just one of the young players who has evaded the Test selectors' eye this season despite at least one good innings in the one-day tournament.

Here is a possible squad, but don't be shocked if I am completely wrong: Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Ramprakash, Alec Stewart, Usman Afzaal, Owais Shah, Alex Tudor, Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough and Alan Mullally.

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