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| November 01, 2006 | Wednesday | Shawwal 8, 1427 |
‘We do care about one-dayers’
LONDON, Oct 31: England do place an equal priority upon one-day internationals as they do Test matches, chairman of selectors David Graveney has insisted. Graveney, who described England's group stage elimination from the ongoing Champions Trophy tournament in India as “very disappointing,” insisted the side did care about one-day cricket.
In recent years a notable gap has appeared between England's form in five-day and one-day cricket.
The trend continued this month with Champions Trophy reverses against India and Australia.
England great Geoffrey Boycott said results proved what little the current team thought of one-day cricket.
But Graveney said: “Nobody is sitting on their hands and not rating one-day cricket as important as Test match cricket. For me, it is equally important.
“People are not just dismissing the way we have played and the statistics we have from the last 20-odd games.
“We continue to work on it and try to find the right combinations to win one-day games.”But he accepted that England's performances in India had been sub-standard.
“It was very disappointing. Despite what a lot of people said, we went there to win the tournament — so if you do not win it and you are out before the first stage is over then it is obviously disappointing.”
England twice failed to post a challenging score — before chasing a target to win a dead match against semi-finalists and holders West Indies.
And it was those batting problems, regardless of paceman Stephen Harmison's waywardness with the new ball, which Graveney said was the major concern.
“You are not going to win too many matches if you are bowled out for 120 and 160 and you don't manage to bat through your overs,” he reasoned.
“The boys worked extremely hard on their fitness — not just for this tournament but for the Ashes too — but we have to say we came up short.”
England's stunning 2005 Ashes victory further strengthened the belief already prevalent among many English cricket followers that it is Test cricket, not the one-day game, that really matters even though it is only a few months until the World Cup gets underway in the Caribbean in March.
“It is true that some people who support English cricket are only interested in Test matches,” Graveney admitted.
“But we know we have to earn the support we get for one-day games — you do not have that by right — and you do that by putting up good performances and winning matches.
“We have not done that and we know we have work to do.”
However, the former county spin bowler said the international schedule sometimes worked against England.
“We always have an Ashes series before a World Cup — which obviously slightly affects our preparation going into the tournament,” he said.
“But it will be great viewing time (in the Caribbean) for the UK this time, and we will be doing everything we can to realise our potential.”
Meanwhile, Graveney was heartened by the return to all-round fitness in India of England captain Andrew Flintoff.
“They did well to win that match against the West Indies - that showed a lot of character.
“There are plus points, in Kevin Pietersen's batting in that game and the fact Andrew Flintoff came through — bowling two spells, which was quite important,” he explained.
“Stephen Harmison found it more difficult. It is a real test of character when the ball is flying to the boundary — but he will keep working hard, like everyone else.”
England cricketers depart for Australia on Friday and begin the defence of the Ashes in Brisbane on Nov 23.—AFP
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