Time for a separation of powers

Well that didn't take long, did it? Tim Henman's elimination at Wimbledon was the last "frppp!", as England's balloon of sporting excellence spun round the room a few times and came farting back to earth. Rugby, football, cricket, tennis: once again, we're rubbish at all four of our national sports, and the country is a much saner place for it.

So maybe that's a bit harsh on Tim, Wayne and everyone else who's been lifting the spirits over the last few weeks. But where one-day cricket is concerned, the situation really could not be more awful. Tuesday's debacle at Chester-le-Street was England's sixth-lowest one-day total of all time, and given that the bottom three have all been compiled in the past three years as well, this is not a decline that has come out of the blue.

As a gesture of optimism, however, I'm still inclined to put a positive spin on the state of England's one-day game. Had the roles been reversed in the last two matches, then the Riverside's redundant floodlights would already have been bedecked with "Bring on the Aussies" banners. Instead, we've been plunged back into a timely bout of navel-gazing; the squad's lack of depth has been brutally exposed, and the over-reliance on certain key players is all too apparent. It is better to have discovered these weaknesses now than in 12 months' time

For better or worse, England's Test and one-day fortunes have never been more closely linked, and there is still time to put matters right ahead of next summer's Ashes series. That connection may not be immediately apparent, after a winter in which the soaring returns of the Test team have been totally at odds with the soggy, monsoon-dodging antics of the one-day squad, but one only needs to recall England's record-breaking run-chases at Lord's and Trent Bridge earlier this summer, to realise that England's Test tempo owes its beat to limited-overs cricket.

You could even narrow it down further, and say that England's Test tempo owes its beat to Graham Thorpe - the classiest one-day batsman in the country, whose retirement from one-dayers has created a void that has yet to be adequately bridged. Under Thorpe's guidance, England approached their Test run-chases with supreme confidence, but in his absence, a gung-ho mentality has permeated the one-day side. The knock-on effect that such devastating defeats must be having on Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick cannot be underestimated.

If that seems a touch hyperbolic, then consider for a moment this team of familiar faces: 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Vikram Solanki, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Anthony McGrath, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Darren Gough, 10 James Anderson, 11 Richard Johnson.

Far from being bundled out for 101, this in fact was the team that wrecked South Africa for 107 in the final of last summer's NatWest Series - a performance of such breathtaking self-assurance that, within the month, Nasser Hussain had acknowledged his time was up and abdicated the Test captaincy. And yet, were it not for the presence of Flintoff, this side would in fact be weaker than the current version. Each of the other four changes - Strauss for Solanki, Collingwood for Clarke, Jones for Read and Harmison for Johnson - would all appear to be for the better.

It just goes to show that confidence is everything, especially where Vaughan's rapid-reaction captaincy is concerned. But with Duncan Fletcher loath to sanction changes, another dent to the self-esteem must be anticipated at Headingley tonight. So what's a team to do? There are two solutions - bowl Harmison into the ground in a desperate bid to salvage the series, and recall at once the almost-fit-again Flintoff, who was happily seen gallivanting around the outfield during Lancashire's Championship match this week. Or evacuate the Test players, give them a holiday ahead of the West Indies series, and replace them with a team of likely lads who have everything to gain from the NatWest Series and nothing to lose.

The World Cup is still three years away. Given the amount of international cricket being played and the importance of the coming months, I would take the second route. Last week, Vaughan stated that the two national teams should be selected from one squad of about 20 players. The impact of his words was rather lessened by the team of makeweights that was subsequently chosen to be routed by West Indies, but the sentiments still hold strong. For England to be able to cement their standing in international cricket, then every one of those 20-odd players must be able to command their place in Test and one-day cricket alike. But until such time as the one-day side is back up to speed, it is safer to keep the two disciplines strictly quarantined.

There has never been a stronger case for the separation of powers. England's current one-day problems can be blamed on an over-reliance on the star players - Trescothick, Vaughan, Harmison and, especially, Flintoff who, like Jonah Lomu in the 1995 World Cup, is such a towering figure that it takes three Englishmen to cover for him. At the moment, their presence in the side is divisive, because it drains all confidence from the bit-part players, who cannot be expected to develop if they are not trusted to take centre stage.

Clarke's arrested development is a case in point. If England persist in treating him as a No. 8 who rarely bowls, he is never going to become an adequate understudy for Flintoff. The same and more goes for Ian Blackwell, while at the top and the bottom of the order, Robert Key and Sajid Mahmood would be better off continuing their prolific seasons at county level, than sitting in the dressing-room waiting for opportunities that are not forthcoming.

The greatest beneficiary of a two-tier approach, however, would be Paul Collingwood - a man who has the utmost faith of the management, but whose confidence takes a battering with every player who leapfrogs him into the Test team. There can be no better candidate to lead the development side, because he, of all people, knows what glories are awaiting if he can grasp his opportunity.

Vaughan has made a success of his Test captaincy because he runs a team of equals who thrive on collective responsibility. Only by passing that culture down through the rest of his squad, can he ensure the long-term health of English cricket.

A 2nd XI to salvage the series 1 Robert Key, 2 Mark Wagh, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Michael Powell, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Gareth Batty, 9 Darren Gough, 10 James Anderson, 11 Sajid Mahmood.