Ah, glad you are there and hope you are keeping well - seems I missed a spot of bother over Easter. Is Spain any sunnier than Blighty at present?

So, impressions of England in the West Indies. I am obviously delighted that we won, and saddened at the alarming decline in the W Indies. But as for England, I see, hopefully, good times ahead. Trescothick could possibly move down the order, allowing Butcher to move up, and Strauss to come in. Nasser may have to give way, with Thorpe moving up to 4, and Trescothick at 5. I am not convinced by Flintof yet at 6, but perhaps the thing to do is persist with him there, with Jones at 7, and maybe a straight swap will happen if Jones proves his worth with the bat. I think we both said back in the autumn that Jones would get a look in eventaully during the winter but it happened a little later than I thought.

Bowling wise, well, what can you say. Very excited about the coming of age of Harmison, the re-emergence of Hoggard, and the recovery and return of Jones. We still lack a spinner of any real menace, and that is an area of real concern for the next few years - the pace side of things is looking good, with Anderson, Mahmood, Caddick (in an emergency), etc waiting in the wings.

Batting wise, further to what I say above, then Collingwood has a good claim along with Straus to come into the order, and I hope that the young pretenders who have flattered to deceive in the last 12 months or so - eg Bell, Shafayat, etc come good soon. We can also look forward to the qualification of Pietersen in the autumn. All in all, things look bright so far, but I think this summer is absolutley crucial to the develoment of a team capable of giving Australia a tough series next summer. Some crucial decisions need to be made at the start of this season - when should Nasser be dropped in favour of a young hopeful, what should our spinning policy be, and who should keep wicket - I still do not rule out Prior who seems every bit as good a bat as Jones, is younger, but who does not keep reguarly for Sussex. Finally, having made the decision about Hussain, what should the order be for the top 5. These things need deciding now ahead of the first summer series, allowing a year for the new look team to gel and get used to their roles. I definitely think Trescothick should move down now, as he will be a great 4 or 5 to combat Warne next summer - a new-baller he is not.

Admin - Link to original thread in the England forum: A brief hello to some old friends