Vaughan's supremacy - Willis
Never mind his failings with the bat, Bob thinks Michael Vaughan must lead England.
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The last week has brought the strange experience of enjoying watching England in Australia on this tour as they have won twice, against their hosts and New Zealand, and qualified for the Commonwealth Bank Series finals.
It has come as quite a surprise, not just for England fans, but also for New Zealanders. Their players must be pretty unhappy at having failed to make the finals as they have played a lot of good cricket in this tournament but have finished up with nothing.
New Zealand have spent a considerable amount of time preparing for the forthcoming World Cup but it doesn't say much for that preparation that they have been knocked out by England, who have a very poor one-day record of late. Losing twice to England in successive matches hasn't helped their cause at all.
The series has certainly done more for England as they prepare for the World Cup but there are still questions to be answered, not least the one over the captaincy and the pros and cons of Michael Vaughan's selection.
Immediately the question has been answered by his fitness, or lack of again, as he has been ruled out of the finals but it remains an issue for the World Cup and whether what he brings to the team as a captain compensates enough for his lack of runs in this form of the game.
Assuming he is fit, Vaughan's captaincy is very important given the fragile state that England finds itself in at the moment. Andrew Flintoff certainly needs a rest from the job and Andrew Strauss needs to concentrate on scoring some runs so my feeling is that he is the best choice at the moment.
His lacks of runs in one-day cricket overall is staggering really. In domestic cricket on Sky Sports we saw him score one of the best one-day hundreds ever for Yorkshire down at Taunton but there has been precious little since and certainly nothing for England.
He might have to decide what his best role is in the team and maybe, in the short term, he could make himself responsible for finishing an innings with responsible shoulders down at six or seven, rather than batting at the top of the order.
His captaincy though is vital and, if fit, he must be picked as a captain, and hopefully the runs will come. He has the ability to score them on any stage and anywhere in the order but for now, what he brings as a captain will do.
Bob answers your email...
Dear Bob, As a Pom living in Perth WA, this summer has been particularly hard to swallow. After being humiliated in the Ashes, I knew the one-day series would be tough going on current form. The last two displays at the WACA were both gutless and inept. The batting line up is a complete shambles, and the less said about the bowling the better. Could you please tell me why Matthew Hoggard, who is our best bowler by a long way, is not included in this one day debacle. All the best, Phil.
BOB SAYS: Well Phil, Hoggard's economy rate as a one-day player is very poor. Whether it would end up being any worse than that of Jimmy Anderson, Liam Plunkett or Sajid Mahmood, I don't know. If the ball doesn't swing, the England selectors think that, with the white ball, he is cannon fodder and that is why he has been excluded. I don't suppose his bowling record would be any worse than Vaughan's batting record and I have always been a firm believer that England should largely play their Test team in one-day cricket and just tinker with one or two places. I don't see Mahmood being a better bet than Hoggard in one-day cricket so I tend to agree with you Phil, but his numbers don't stack up, so that is probably why he has been left out.
Bob, I have a question about Stuart Broad. Why has it taken so long to give him another go after he made a competent start against Pakistan when so many other bowlers have failed to show the consistency of line and length required. James from Colchester.
BOB SAYS: Well James his exclusion from the one-day team was unbelievable to me too and possibly they have set him back by excluding him. Although Peter Moores said that Chris Tremlett was the best bowler on view in Perth, that was in the nets and certainly not in a competitive environment. Broad has shown that he has got the guts to stand up and be counted in the international arena and I am afraid that Tremlett never will do that. He hasn't got a great track record when the going gets tough. England clearly didn't think Broad was ready for the senior tour of Australia but, I ask you, who would have benefited more from being in the Test match squad, Broad or Plunkett? I would say Broad.
