By Anil - 18 June, '02
June 18 2002

England's bowling strength consists mostly of right arm medium pacers, which may be appropriate for conditions that are known to assist swing. But do they have the firepower to take out India's strong batting lineup twice? There is a sameness in England's attack of Gough, Caddick, Hoggard, Flintoff, Tudor, and Giles who will this summer take on India's middle-order batting lineup, considered to be the world's strongest. Do they have the wherewithal to remove this lineup twice? Let's take a look at what they have recently achieved.

Darren Gough

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Gough is considered the strike bowler for England, their greatest strength. Unusually for a strike bowler, it has been over a year since Gough last bowled in a Test for England. Circumstances have prevented this well-respected bowler from taking the field, with his last appearance against Australia in the Ashes series in England a year ago. During this series Gough performed poorly, taking only 17 wickets in a 5-match series at an average of about 40 runs per wicket. His most ardent fans would admit that this was a poor showing from one who is considered his country's best.

Gough is currently recuperating from knee surgery, and has yet to play cricket this season. At the age of 32, he is unlikely to come back in a big way, if he does come back into England's Test team against India. The "Big 4" lineup of Sachin, Laxman, Dravid, and Ganguly are unlikely to give him too much respect. Sehwag, who was particularly brutal on Gough in an ODI series earlier this year, will be looking forward to facing Gough again.

Andy Caddick

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Caddick has bowled his heart out for England in recent years. However at the age of 34, and appearing to visibly tire on the field, he is not the bowler he once was. Also, he has suffered injury in the last Test against Sri Lanka and was unable to bowl in the second innings. A severe side strain will keep him out of the ODIs and also make him questionable for the Test series, with an expected recovery time of 6 weeks. At this stage of his career, Caddick looks to be a spent force. Unfortunately for England, he is also their highest-rated Test bowler.

Caddick's performance in the just-concluded series against Sri Lanka shows a return of 7 wickets in 3 Test matches, at an average of 40 runs. This does not bode well for him against the powerful Indian lineup.

The others

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Matthew Hoggard is shaping up as England's most promising bowler. He performed relatively well in India, his first full series playing for England followed by an impressive showing against New Zealand, as well as in the recent series against Lanka with 14 wickets in 3 matches at an average of 32. With his control and accuracy, and a tireless enthusiasm, this medium-fast bowler is perhaps the main threat for India.

Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff is an over-rated but aggressive quick bowler. His 6 wickets in 3 Tests against Lanka came at an average of 52 runs per.

Finally, Alex Tudor, England's new pace bowler, has done well in his first major outing for England against Lanka. In the 2 Tests he played, he turned in his best performances in the final Test with a 7-wicket haul. Tudor is considered too inexperienced to present world-class batsmen with any significant problems.

Les Giles, a left-arm off spinner, has done well enough for England in recent times. But against an outfit like India, a spinner does not appear likely to do very well on English tracks. However Giles has shown that he can bowl with accuracy, and his performance which was the cornerstone of England's "negative" bowling tactics while touring India are still fresh in the Indians' minds. Giles will no longer be able to avail those methods which have since been oulawed by the ICC, and will simply have to spin the ball as much as he can and hope that the Indians will treat him with more respect than they have treated Shane Warne, a much better spinner. Giles will not look forward to bowling to the likes of Sachin, Sehwag, and Laxman on unhelpful tracks.

In sum, it appears that the Indian batting is more than equal to what England is likely to throw at them this summer. Let the games begin!