After the pain of a terrible winter, England can look to the future under new coach Peter Moores when they get underway against a very beatable looking West Indies side at Lord's tomorrow.
Despite the hammering England took down under and their insipid displays in the World Cup, there are many reasons to believe this England team is far from finished and that in fact, they are a very competent test outfit capable of beating all comers, on English soil at least. The recent inclement weather will have interested the England seam attack, none more so than Matthew Hoggard, arguably the best fast-medium bowler of his type in world cricket. I shall be having a cheeky wager that the blonde haired Yorkshireman will be a real handful for the Windies batsmen at the home of cricket, taking the ball away from the right handers and bringing the slip cordon into play whilst darting it back in to the left handers.
Steve Harmison's troubles have been much documented over the last 6 months and many England supporters become easily frustrated with the Durham paceman because he can look, and act, like he doesn't want it enough. Mistaking Harmison's languid body language for an uncaring approach is too harsh a judgement, and the chances are he'll show England fans how much playing for England means to him in the next few days. One thing is undeniable - Harmison has attributes no other fast bowler in world cricket possesses and if he brings the sort of form he's been showing for Durham back in to the test arena, it will be curtains for the West Indies.
Liam Plunkett and Freddie make a very effective looking first and second change and there will no doubt be a few overs from Paul Collingwood, who has had considerable success in one day cricket at Lord's. The inclusion of Matt Prior gives the batting line up a healthier look as does Owais Shah - the form player in county cricket over the past three seasons. Andrew Strauss's keen cricket brain will bring the best out of England and the doom and gloom of a horrible winter will soon be left behind.
English cricket is in better condition than people realise - certainly at test level - and the XI selected will be full of hardened players used to winning matches. Don't forget it was only 2 years ago that England won in South Africa before beating the Australians and that there are some superb experienced players ready to come back in to the fold including Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick and Simon Jones in addition to several outstanding young prospects such as Stuart Broad, Billy Godleman and Adil Rashid.
The future's bright....even if the weather sometimes isn't.
Wello
