Flower pinpoints knock-on effect

Whatever their contrasting positions in the rankings, England have now beaten South Africa in their last five ODI meetings

England’s recent signs of improvement in one-day cricket could prove beneficial to their attempts to dethrone Test kings South Africa this winter.

Andrew Strauss’ men take on the world’s number one Test team for the second time in as many series when they face the Proteas over four matches in December and January.

Having removed the Ashes from Australia's possession, however, England's confidence in the longer form of the game is understandably high.

With Strauss’ leadership alliance with team director Andy Flower now beginning to impact on on-field results, this forthcoming 11-week tour will provide an enthralling challenge from the outset, especially given the encouraging form following their 6-1 NatWest Series drubbing.

England's passage to the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals included a 22-run win over the host nation, which extended English dominance over South Africa, who are third in the official 50-over rankings, to five one-day internationals in a row.

“I am very hopeful that we can play good one-day international cricket out there,” Flower said.

“It is going to be a tough series - that South African side is a very good side - and it is also going to be important in the context of the Test tour.”

England are developing sides across the board ahead of the 2010-11 Ashes defence and 2011 ICC World Cup, with Andrew Flintoff’s absence - permanent in Tests - the trickiest problem to account for.

They are also attempting to stamp a more attacking brand of cricket across their play.

Kevin Pietersen is set to return to the England squad after the two Twenty20 matches that kick off the international fixtures

That arguably exposed them against the Australians in the one-day format but the same liberation, for the batsmen in particular, reaped reward in victories over Graeme Smith’s team and Sri Lanka at the Champions Trophy, results which have encouraged the England management to persevere with their policy.

They also hope to be bolstered by the return to fitness of star batsman Kevin Pietersen for a proportion of their next five ODI matches, which is perhaps part of the reason why Flower is so bullish about their limited-overs prospects.

“We will only see if we have the quality once we give it a go,” said Flower. “We will certainly have Pietersen coming back at some stage which will add power to that middle order.

“I think while we are trying to have a good look at how we are going to play one-day cricket we also have to look at our selection policies.

“Even though we wouldn’t publish exactly what our criteria is for selection we have to be quite rigorous, or quite decisive, in what we want.”

There are three uncapped players in the Test squad - Luke Wright, Steven Davies and Adil Rashid - all under 24.

Only four men in any of the three squads named - the other being for two Twenty20 contests - are over 30 in fact, which suggests some of the picks are not only designed for the here and now.

Sussex all-rounder Luke Wright is one of three uncapped players under 24 in the Test squad to play South Africa

In addition to planning, Flower is aware of the equally pressing need to win the next fixture on the list.

“That is always the challenge that we have got because you are always under pressure for results and you can’t use building and rebuilding as reasons or excuses for not getting results,” Flower said.

“So there is always that balance that we have got to try to get.

“It would be unrealistic to expect things to fall into place straight away, but Strauss and I are pretty clear that we have to play that brand of cricket if we want to move forward.

“As a side we haven’t had huge success in one-day international cricket for quite a long time so we want to try something different.

“But I don’t think it is just time that will tell because if you spend time playing and you don’t have a curious mind, you don’t learn things, so that time is wasted.

“We want people who learn and learn quickly, otherwise people aren’t going to change.”

The feeling of evolution is further enhanced by the fact that of the XI which sealed a 2-1 Test series win in Pretoria five winters ago, only Strauss will be returning.

Since that illustrious campaign, England have been victorious in just three of 24 matches and once in seven series overseas. So the wind of change will need to contain some gusto to improve those statistics.