England adjusts to a period of transition

THE first day of the Adelaide Test will be, effectively, Geoff Miller's final day as the national selector.

THE first day of the Adelaide Test will be, effectively, Geoff Miller's final day as the national selector. The changeover to James Whitaker does not happen officially until the new year, but to all intents and purposes once Miller leaves Australia, he is done. He has picked a good time to go.

Planning, precision and consistency have been the key words of the past few years and they have resulted in impressive achievements and clear strategy. Like the highway out of Alice Springs to Adelaide, which travels in one long, straight line, affording views to the horizon, England's selection policies have been characterised by linear good sense and far-sightedness.

Now, though, there is an element of uncertainty, exacerbated by unforeseen events such as the departure of Jonathan Trott, the heavy defeat in Brisbane, the sketchy batting stretching back too far and the nagging worry that this is a team past its peak. Miller has been uncommonly cheery the past few days, almost demob happy; his pass to Whitaker is not intentionally of the hospital variety, but there is a fair bit to do.

Just how fluid things are right now can be traced by trawling through recent decisions. Andrew Strauss's retirement demanded a new opening partner for Alastair Cook, with the selectors initially hopeful that Nick Compton would be the answer, followed by Joe Root and now Michael Carberry. Serendipity gave Carberry his chance, once Cook's back went (incidentally, it is still playing up sufficiently to require him to stand during flights) since Root was earmarked for the job here. Eighteen months on from Strauss, the opening partnership is still unproven.

Trott's departure has robbed the team of a certain stability at No 3. Now a decision must be made between Ian Bell and Root, either one of whom is capable, but ensuring further dislocation down the order. It is a key decision, too, because Trott is not coming back any time soon, if at all.

Despite the No 6 position being the most friendly of all, nobody has laid claim to permanency there. Eoin Morgan was tried and discarded, and is no longer a contracted player, having slipped through the widening crack that separates Twenty20 cricket from Tests. James Taylor has not convinced the selectors, nor, clearly, has Jonny Bairstow, given his lowly position in the pecking order on this tour.

Originally, Gary Ballance was pencilled in at six, with Root opening, until Cook's bad back and Carberry's form changed all that. Ballance played well enough in Alice Springs without ever suggesting he is a standout pick and the way coach Andy Flower, bowling coach David Saker and Cook scrutinised Ben Stokes's bowling from behind the arm suggested he is being considered for that slot as an allrounder. If not now, then in time.

Stokes would open up the possibility of playing two spinners, so bringing Monty Panesar back into the fold. Much, in that sense, depends on the Adelaide pitch with which the curators, Damian Hough and Les Burdett, have been experimenting during the early-season matches at the new oval. Spin has been a significant factor, not so much because the ball has turned, but because it has been back-breaking work for the seam bowlers.

Having taken half as much grass off for the second first-class game, the feeling is that Hough will go back to the amount he left on for the first game (eight millimetres or thereabouts) so reducing the effectiveness of the spinners even further.

The chance remains for Panesar but only an outside one. He bowled well in Alice Springs, but a question mark must remain over his long-term viability given his alarming off-field behaviour in the summer at Sussex. The feeling is that Graeme Swann will not want to go on for many more tours, and given Simon Kerrigan's horrible debut at The Oval in August, it opens up intriguing questions as to England's medium-term spin options.

Tim Bresnan is likely to return at Chris Tremlett's expense, after a more than satisfactory performance for the Performance Program last week in Brisbane. He has been added to the England squad and is available for selection. But there is a risk associated there, too, for a man who has had precious little match bowling in the past few months. Injuries are part and parcel of a fast bowler's life, but Bresnan's elbow and back have ensured more uncertainty in that position than is ideal.

England's fast bowling stocks were thought to be healthy, although the sense here is that Saker's worry lines have increased to the point where an injury to Stuart Broad or James Anderson would be damaging in the extreme. Tremlett bowled consistently in Brisbane without ever suggesting he was back to his pace of three years ago, while Steven Finn and Boyd Rankin have been underwhelming so far.

Finn, especially, is a worry. On England's long-delayed flight from Alice Springs to Adelaide he could be seen having a protracted, one-to-one chat with Flower. He looks low on confidence, having put in another poor performance in the two-day match, uncertain of his technique and, fundamentally, of what type of bowler he should be. A battering ram or a sponge? He maintains, however, that he is clear of mind, and not far away.

All this without mention of Matt Prior. Despite his position as the tour vice-captain, he felt concerned enough about his batting form in the previous match to hand over duties to Bell so that he could concentrate on his batting. It always amazes how quickly things can turn in cricket; lauded before the start of the New Zealand series last summer, and a unanimous choice as player of the year, he has barely scored since.

Many of these problems have easy solutions. Prior's slump may simply be a matter of short-term form, although some of England's backroom staff scoff at the notion of form, but there remains the possibility that this team is on a knife edge, and could go either way, with several senior players hovering in that grey area between plateau and decline.

Interestingly, Graham Gooch, the public face of the team on Monday, did not talk of technique or skill, but of will. "We have to show better will than we did in the last game," he said. He was talking, essentially, of the team's competitive heart, the first thing to go when a team is on the wane. The second Test should tell us whether it beats as strongly as ever.