Moores Craves Fresh Start As the Curse of Mcclaren Takes Hold

When Peter Moores took over as England coach from Duncan Fletcher in the spring, one respected commentator could not resist describing him as the "Steve McClaren candidate", not quite realizing that a few months later what had felt like a minor slight would develop into a curse.

As England embark today on a tour of New Zealand, Moores urgently needs an improvement in form if the McClaren comparisons are not to gain ground. The best England candidate available, he has many good qualities but winning Test matches has yet to be one of them. If things begin to go badly, Moores would be best advised not to be seen under an umbrella. In New Zealand, especially, such a mistake could be made all too easily.

England have lost successive Test series at home to India and away to Sri Lanka, a pre-Christmas tour that ended with England supporters in Galle barracking the team. There has been hostility before, when England lost at The Oval against New Zealand in 1999 in the early stages of Nasser Hussain's captaincy and briefly fell to the bottom of the world rankings.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is not as abashed as it should be. Today is Australia Day, the date chosen for the marketing launch of the 2009 Ashes with a viral video that shows clips of England's 2005 Ashes success with a crass commentary that attempts to parody the Norwegian football commentator who tauntingly told England that they had taken "one hell of a beating" after defeat in a World Cup qualifier.

The official video not only ignores Australia's 5-0 whitewash last year but happily presents England in the role of Norway (rank outsiders who pulled off a shock). A viral video, for the uninitiated, is a clip that replicates through Internet sharing but, if you assumed that it meant the video is sick, then you are just as close to the mark.

In Moores' first eight months in charge the perception that England are second only to Australia has been rudely dispelled. David Graveney, in what proved to be his last act as an England selector, rightly insisted that "it is time to deliver".

England are forever weighed down by a non-stop schedule but the year has clicked by, so Moores tried desperately to sound renewed, as if the unwrapping of a few presents and a quick burst of Auld Lang Syne were the equivalent of six months off on a Caribbean beach.

"It's the start of a new year and it's an exciting time," he said. "We see this as a new start with everyone starting fresh. The Test side has changed a lot over the last couple of years through injuries and retirements. What that does is provide opportunities for others but we need to settle the side quickly and end this period of flux and change. There is a lot of big cricket coming up and we have a lot of work still to do."

Moores does not have the pace attack enjoyed by Fletcher. On the day that Adam Gilchrist took a world record 414th Test dismissal, it is worth remarking that he does not have a regular wicketkeeper either, Tim Ambrose having been named in preference to Matt Prior as the latest Test incumbent. And he does not have an in-form Monty Panesar.

Panesar, who misses next month's five-match one-day series and three Tests, is with the England Lions in Mumbai, a stint that will say much not only about Panesar as a bowler but David Parsons, the national performance director, as a coach. "Monty has got terrific skill," Parsons said. "The next thing he has to do is craft that skill. He now has the chance to learn his craft away from the glare of the Test match arena."