David James

Capello seems to have settled on him as his first-choice goalkeeper, which, given his generally excellent form for Portsmouth and the lack of alternatives, is understandable, but there is always the feeling that he could self-destruct. Borat would like James because of his capacity to make you cringe, such as when he almost made a hash of keeping out Tanat Nusserbayev’s shot in the 53rd minute. 6

Wes Brown

Steady, if typically unspectacular. The Manchester United defender did demonstrate an ability to get forward and cause problems when he crossed for Rooney to score England’s third, but by then Kazakhstan had resigned themselves to defeat. Against better teams his inclination is to hold his position, but if Walcott is to fulfil his potential in an England shirt, it would help to have an adventurous full back behind him. 6

Rio Ferdinand

The Manchester United defender was handed the captain’s armband in the absence of the injured John Terry. He put England in front with a free header shortly after the restart and held together a back four that at times looked jittery. On another day he might have been better positioned to have dealt with the back-pass from Cole that gave Kazakhstan their goal, but otherwise assured. 7

Matthew Upson

Preferred to the out-of-form Joleon Lescott as a replacement for John Terry, Upson seemed determined to ensure that he would never pull on an England jersey again during the opening 15 minutes, when he was twice embarrassed by Nusserbayev and then almost handed Kazakhstan’s lively No 7 a goal with a ludicrous back-pass to James, but the West Ham United defender recovered and was a threat from set-pieces. 6

Ashley Cole

His performance would have got a unanimous thumbs-down from his wife, Cheryl, and her fellow X Factor judges. It was the football equivalent of a singer forgetting his lyrics. The Chelsea defender was booed after his sloppy pass gave Kazakhstan their goal. He offered little going forward and looked a shadow of the player who has been at his rampaging best for his club this season. 5

Steven Gerrard

Reinstated after missing the 4-1 victory away to Croatia last month through injury, but the Liverpool captain did not get to grips with the 4-3-3 formation. He improved in the second half when England switched to 4-4-2, but this was a performance that raised more questions than answers - is Gerrard being accommodated, or does the player need to accept that he will never be used in the manner he is by his club? 5

Gareth Barry There is no doubting his ability, but he is no holding midfield player in the mould of Owen Hargreaves, John Obi Mikel or Javier Mascherano, and he seemed unsure of what his role was. As a left-footed player, the Aston Villa captain provides balance in the centre of the pitch, but there are doubts about whether he can be used in a midfield that also contains Lampard and Gerrard. 6

Frank Lampard

Deployed in the position in which he has had so much success at Chelsea, he was England’s best player. This was not vintage Lampard, but he looked far more comfortable in a midfield three than his two partners and provided the set-pieces for England’s first two goals and instigated the counter-attack for the third. Also had two decent efforts well blocked after popping up in ideal shooting positions 8.

Theo Walcott

Started brilliantly and it looked as if a repeat of his performance against Croatia was on the cards, but while he was one of England’s better players, he faded and was replaced by Beckham before the end. Capello’s goal must be to harness the qualities that were exhibited during a 20-minute spell in the first half, when the Arsenal prodigy terrorised Alexander Kirov almost to the point of submission 7.

Emile Heskey

The Wigan Athletic striker missed so many simple chances that, while it is clear that his contribution will never be measured in goals, Capello must be concerned that against better opposition such profligacy is unlikely to go unpunished. To Heskey’s credit, he did not let those squandered opportunities get to him. He won his share of flick-ons and teed up Lampard nicely early on 6.

Wayne Rooney

The Manchester United forward has scored five goals in his past four matches for club and country and must try to ensure that he can maintain that form over the rest of the season, something he has not always been able to do. He looked uncomfortable out wide in the first half, but, deployed in a more central role during the second period, he shone and took both of his goals with aplomb 7.

Substitutes

Shaun Wright-Phillips (for Barry, 46min 6): The Manchester City winger provided some much-needed balance and width on the left.

David Beckham (for Walcott, 79): In stark contrast to Ashley Cole, every touch by the former captain was greeted with shrieks of delight from England supporters and it was his crosses that led to the fourth and fifth goals.

Jermain Defoe (for Rooney, 86): Looked lively during a brief cameo and made no mistake with his finish for England’s final goal.

Not used: Scott Carson, Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge, Peter Crouch.

Kazakhstan (4-4-2): A Mokin 5 – A Kislitsyn 6, A Kuchma 5, Y Logvinenko 5, A Kirov 4 (sub: T Sabalakov, 85min) – S Ibrayev 6, S Skorykh 6, R Baltiyev 7, Z Kukeyev 7 – S Ostapenko 5 (sub: G Maltsev, 76), T Nusserbayev 7. Substitutes not used: A Morev, K Nurdauletov, I Vorotnikov, M Azovskiy, B Beissenov.