Collingwood is Odd Man in As Bell Misses Out

There is little room for surprises any more in the England set-up but the selectors yesterday came up with the name of Paul Collingwood as the final man in an otherwise predictable 16-man squad to tour South Africa for a five-Test series this winter.

The Durham man has played only two Tests and has not featured for England since the one-day series in the middle of the summer. A modest county season and an injured right knee have not proved a deterrent to his inclusion, at the expense of either an extra pace bowler or a specialist batsman in the form of Ian Bell.

"We have chosen him," said the chairman of selectors David Graveney, "because we feel that his experience of the international arena and his adaptability will be of real benefit to the touring party and will enable us to retain the right balance of the side in the event of injury to our one all-rounder, Andy Flintoff.

"We have a pretty settled Test team at present and that alludes to the omission of Bell. But Collingwood gives us a bit of flexibility in terms of cover. There is no one in the world who can cover for Flintoff but the inclusion of Paul is down to last winter when he played in extreme conditions in Sri Lanka and also contributed to the team in West Indies. So it is this flexibility that gets him the nod."

Maybe the chairman believes this guff. More likely he has had to front a decision thrust on him: it has the hallmark of the coach Duncan Fletcher, who would like to go with what he knows.

Collingwood is a worthy individual, a willing workhorse and the sort of fellow who obliges the media by breaking his nose on a basketball pole when the cricket has been rained off. But, if cover of any sort is being sought for Flintoff, then it has to come from either a specialist pace bowler or a specialist batsman.

Bell bats better than Collingwood, exemplified more than adequately by his Test debut innings of 70 at The Oval last week, and probably bowls better too. And, if Bell's catch in the gully to dismiss Ramnaresh Sarwan last Friday is any indication, then there is not much to choose in the fielding either.

The reality is that England have gone not so much for an all-round cricketer as an all-round good egg. There is nothing wrong with this - the dynamics of a touring party need to be carefully balanced - as long as no one is under any illusion. At the first sign of injury to Flintoff either the reserve batsman, Bell, or the reserve seamer, Jon Lewis of Gloucestershire, will be in South Africa like a shot.

Bell, of course, may find his development better enhanced at the Academy than on the rounds of net practice and training that will be Collingwood's lot. Certainly he hid his disappointment well enough. "I sort of expected it," he said yesterday, "but it gives me an opportunity to work at the Academy."

The continuity of selection goes on, though, with all but Nasser Hussain and Rikki Clarke of the squad to the West Indies featuring now and, with the exception of Bell, everyone who played in the recent home series getting a place on tour.

So Mark Butcher stands to regain the place that through injury he conceded to Robert Key, while Chris Read will understudy the wicketkeeper Geraint Jones. Apart from Key, Read, Collingwood and the reserve spinner Gareth Batty, all the touring party have been awarded 12-month central contracts.

Read, after his initial anger, has responded well to Jones's elevation and has had an outstanding season for Nottinghamshire. The selectors, though, are mindful that Read's lack of runs were the reason for his replacement in the first place and the search continues, with fellow keeper Matt Prior one of a dozen cricketers, also including Nottinghamshire's South African born batsman Kevin Pietersen, who becomes England qualified in October, given a full-time place at the Academy in Loughborough.

An England A team (the Academy in other words) will tour the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka early next year, the bulk of their cricket in one-day format. Additionally two fast bowlers will attend Dennis Lillee's MRF Pace Academy in Chennai while a spinner and a batsman will go with John Emburey and Graham Gooch to Mumbai to improve their techniques.