(posted 7898 days ago)Telegraph
Sunday 8 September 2002Selectors forced to gamble on injured duo
By Simon Briggs (Filed: 02/09/2002)England squad
England's never-ending injury list has forced them to call up two players who have yet to prove their full fitness.
The 14-man squad for Thursday's crucial final Test at the Oval features Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset opener who made an inconclusive return from a broken thumb in Saturday's C & G Trophy final, and Essex allrounder Ronnie Irani.
A fortnight after his right knee was "flushed out" in an exploratory operation, Irani played for Essex in a National League match at Old Trafford yesterday, dismissing both openers on the way to figures of two for 35 from nine overs.
The selectors will just have been relieved to see him out in the middle, as their decision was based largely on the fact that he came through net practices on Friday and Saturday.
Irani has played three Tests and made a successful international return during the NatWest triangular one-day series earlier this summer. He is felt to be the nearest thing to a like-for-like replacement for Andrew Flintoff, who misses the final Test after undergoing hernia surgery last Friday.
David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, said the panel had considered switching the team's balance to seven batsmen and four bowlers, but had decided against it, as "this policy did not work for us against Sri Lanka at Lord's earlier in the summer".
Having missed six weeks through a quadruple fracture of his left thumb, Trescothick will attempt to make further progress today in Somerset's National League match at the Riverside Stadium near Durham. He claimed to have felt no great reaction after his innings of 27 on Saturday, but Kent opener Robert Key will remain in the squad as cover.
Dominic Cork also keeps his place in the 14 despite a hairline fracture on his right little finger. He will test his fitness in another National League game today though he seems likely to be omitted from the final XI for the fifth time this summer.
England did consider picking a second spinner, especially as Yorkshire's Richard Dawson has emerged from a rocky patch with consecutive five-wicket hauls in the County Championship. But their most recent success at the Oval, against the West Indies two years ago, was based less on turn than on Craig White's reverse-swing and Andy Caddick's ability to make the ball burst through the top of a dry pitch.
After missing the Headingley Test, seamer Steve Harmison is likely to play in the hope of exploiting uneven bounce.
Only a month ago, after England's comprehensive win at Lord's, Hussain tried to lay down tough guidelines on players' fitness. He argued that anyone who was coming back from injury should have to play a four-day championship match to prove they could cut it.
But events have conspired against him. England have no choice but to gamble as they approach their most important Test showdown since Sept 4 2000, the day they overwhelmed the West Indies in front of a capacity crowd in Kennington.
England squad (4th Npower Test v India, the Oval, Thursday): N Hussain (Essex, capt) Age 34, Tests 74; M E Trescothick (Somerset) 26-25; M P Vaughan 27-22; M A Butcher (Surrey) 30 44, J P Crawley (Hampshire) 30 33, R W T Key (Kent) 23 2, A J Stewart (Surrey, wkt) 39 121, D G Cork (Derbyshire) 31 36, A J Tudor (Surrey) 24 8, R C Irani (Essex) 30 3, A F Giles (Warwickshire) 29 17, A R Caddick (Somerset) 33 56, M J Hoggard (Yorkshire) 25 14, S J Harmison (Durham) 23 1.