BOTH England and Australia took gambles with injured players when they named their World Cup squads of 15 yesterday, as the tournament rules required. Ignoring the lessons of the Test series here, England named Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles and Craig White, all at present unfit, and even Alec Stewart’s participation must be in doubt given that he missed the Melbourne Test with a form of rheumatoid arthritis in the hand.

The Australia selectors have shown the same faith that Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne will recover in time from side and shoulder injuries, but they have much greater strength in depth to work with should things go wrong.

England’s selectors naturally want the strongest available team, but three unfit players out of 15 is a high proportion, even with seven weeks in hand before the first scheduled match, the controversial fixture against Zimbabwe in Harare on February 13. There must be a possibility of a repetition of events earlier in the tour to Australia when, for much of the time during the crucial first few weeks, injured players distracted attention from other important preparations.

The unavailing efforts to get Darren Gough and Flintoff fit have been blamed officially on over-optimistic medical advice, in which case David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, and his colleagues, Geoff Miller, Duncan Fletcher and Nasser Hussain, have risked further criticism by deciding to accept similar advice now.

There is a hit-and-miss element in the whole selection procedure, disrupted as it has been by the spate of injuries that has made a mockery of Fletcher’s plans to have a full team of players with experience of at least 30 international matches. The desire to hang on to some experience explains, perhaps, the preference for Matthew Hoggard over James Kirtley, but in the case of two fast bowlers the key to selection has been to leave an appearance until late. James Anderson’s pace and what Hussain called his instinctive knowledge of when to vary it with a slower ball, has catapulted him into the 15, even though he has played only six senior one-day matches, three for Lancashire and three for England. Steve Harmison’s rapid improvement during the tour has also been rewarded.

Much as I admire the spunkiness of Ronnie Irani’s cricket, he is lucky on the evidence of his failures against Australia and Sri Lanka recently to have been preferred to Adam Hollioake, who wields a straighter blade and has at least an equal flair for the big occasion. To have only four specialist batsmen — Hussain, Nick Knight, Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan — also leaves the team dangerously exposed if one should be injured during the tournament.

It will be possible to replace an injured player before or during the World Cup, which starts on February 9 and ends on March 23, provided that injuries are independently assessed by a panel of doctors and on condition that the player is taken out of his national squad for the remainder of the tournament.

Giles, who broke a wrist while batting against Harmison in the Adelaide nets before the second Test on November 19, and Flintoff, who went home after the ups and downs of his struggle to recover from a hernia operation last August, are the nearest to recovery of the three men at present in various different stages of rehabilitation.

Graveney, who said he was satisfied that the players selected represent the best mix of experience and youth that England have available, added: “Flintoff is making good progress in his rehabilitation work with Dave Roberts at Lancashire and has been bowling at around 90 per cent pace in the nets while experiencing much less pain. The indications from the ECB medical officer are that Andrew will be fit and able to play a full part in the competition.

“Ashley Giles has been given the go-ahead from his specialist to begin training and bowled six overs in the nets over the weekend without suffering any reaction. Again I am satisfied that Ashley will be able to play a full role for England in the World Cup.”

Flintoff and Giles are expected to return to Australia “during the next few weeks” to continue their rehabilitation and prove their fitness, but Hollioake and the other replacements already here are staying on to cover for them when the programme of one-day matches resumes after the Sydney Test.

Initial medical advice on the side strain suffered by White last Thursday in Melbourne, was that this injury would require three to six weeks to heal. “Craig will be receiving intensive treatment with the aim of having him available for the finals of the VB Series, should England qualify,” Graveney said. “We will also be looking to Andrew and Ashley to be fit for selection for those finals.”

McGrath has a similar injury after years in which he has remained fit for both Test and one-day cricket. Australia’s record in getting players fit after injuries is far better than England’s, but side strains require careful handling and there is always a temptation to bowl too soon. That is a mistake that Warne has already said he has no intention of making. It must still be a possibility that neither of Australia’s main bowlers will be fit for the start of the tournament.

There is still a look of much greater stability about the squad chosen by the champions. Thirteen of their 15 have been playing in the recent matches in the VB series and the other two, Jimmy Maher and Andrew Symonds, are seasoned international players.

That Australia could leave out players of the quality of Ian Harvey, Ashley Noffke and Justin Langer shows the depth of their resources.

FASTTIMES

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