| Duncan Fletcher on how to retain Ashes Morgan's inner strength under extreme pressure will make him a key man for England during a tough series in AustraliaEngland are about to head off on a team-building camp. I am not sure they need it. You cannot have a better team‑bonding exercise than what they have been through in the one-day series against Pakistan. These have been tough times for the side but they will be stronger because of the way they have come through them.The pressure England put on themselves to win that fifth one-day international would have been huge. If they had lost the series to a team who have been widely accused of spot-fixing they would have looked ridiculous and the allegations made against Pakistan would have been undermined, whether they are right or wrong. England deserve a lot of credit for refusing to let that happen.The key man was Eoin Morgan, who once again showed just how good he is at performing under extreme pressure. This carries neatly on to yesterday's announcement of the Ashes squad. For me it is critical that England find a way to get Morgan into the team – not just the squad – for the first Test. He should bat at No6.If England are going to fit Morgan in, obviously someone else will have to make way. The men to look at here are the No2 and No3 in the order, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott. I think Cook should be the man who is dropped. I have written before about the qualities Cook brings to the team apart from his ability as a batsman. The management clearly like him as a character and see him as a good influence on the team. But the runs Trott has scored in international cricket since he came into the team outweigh those criteria. On top of that the one major concern I would have about the English batting is their propensity for sudden collapses. They have not managed to shake off this habit, as we saw again and again in both the recent Test and one-day series. Trott, like Morgan, seems to be a cool player in a crisis, with a steady temperament and an ability to handle pressure.Also, if Trott moves up to open, then England will have a right-hand/left-hand combination at the top of the order, which is always preferable because of the disruption it causes to the lines of the opening bowlers. Ian Bell would then play at No3, Kevin Pietersen at 4, Paul Collingwood at 5, Morgan at 6 and Matt Prior at No7.That is assuming that England stick with their four-man attack. I still doubt that this is the right approach to take, although playing a fifth bowler would probably mean that Morgan would miss out on selection, with Prior moving up to No6. As I have said right through this year, I do not think that England are going to be able to knock over Australia as they have sides in England when the ball is swinging. In Australia the ball will not swing so much, which is going to reduce the effectiveness of James Anderson. That means the team will have to bowl more overs. In that situation they will look to Graeme Swann as their banker.Swann is good enough to handle that and his natural confidence means that he is unlikely to be bothered that he has not played any Test cricket in Australia before now. But you also have to allow for the fact that he will be bowling with a Kookaburra ball. A lot has been said about how the Kookaburra affects fast bowlers because it does not swing so much but it can also be a challenge for spin bowlers. Swann's great strength is that he gets the ball to drift in its flight, away from the right-handers and in to the left-handers, before breaking the ball back the other way.Drift is the same as reverse swing. An off-spinner's grip angles the seam from mid-off to fine-leg. That is the same as for an inswinger from a fast bowler. The drift moves the ball away from the right-handed batsman, against the angle of the seam. If that movement is not there, and the Kookaburra may be less conducive to it, then Swann is not going to be nearly as effective.He faced the same difficulties last winter but the South Africans played him poorly. I imagine the Australians are likely to be better at it.So the selectors have their share of worries. But on balance England are still in an excellent position. It is very different from the situation we faced on our last tour of Australia. This time the team are injury-free. Nine of the 11 places in the team are certainly settled, the final batsman and fast bowler being the exceptions. And perhaps most importantly, they are playing what must be the weakest Australian side since the early 1980s.AshesEngland cricket teamCricketDuncan Fletcherguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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