Picking a team to win

Listening to Fabio Capello refuting claims that England squad players have come to blows in training makes the average England fan start to sit up and take notice.

Matthew Upson/Gary Cahill vs Gareth Barry (dependent on who you listen to) is something you've never seen or heard before in an England training camp.  It seems a strange thing to say but it's starting to seem like England players actually want to contest a shirt.

We're going to have a change of keeper.  Thankfully.  Rob Green deserves his chance for 2 excellent seasons; Paul Robinson will hopefully get back to being one of the best in the world, but Scott Carson needs lessons in concentration. Seems like a decent contest with 3 great keepers stopping David James ever filling that gap again.

Centre half will also be different; Rio Ferdinand seems never to be 100% fit these days, which will eventually allow either the admirable Phil Jagielka (long term after current knee injury), Cahill (for now?) or more likely Joleon Lescott to play alongside Terry. Full backs offer the now much more relaxed Ashley Cole, or Wayne Bridge (who seems to have regressed at City), with the Glen Johnson project, which still offers doubts, ahead of Gary Neville's steadiness.

The midfield picks itself; Beckham, Lampard, Barry, Gerrard.  Gareth Barry being totally wasted but effective in a holding role; with Steven  Gerrard being allowed to play wherever he wants.  David Beckham is still the best English right sided midfielder, with the athleticism to track back, and the desire to do so.  Frank Lampard's drive as Chelsea vice-captain will mean that we have 5 Captains on the field, which is something Manchester United sadly lacked recently.

Up front, Wayne Rooney and Peter Crouch should be pairing number 1, rather than Crouch being plan b) long ball, as under previous managers.  Capello is brave enough to change his mind about Crouch and vocalise his new opinion.  Rooney having the freedom to run off Crouch's hold-up ability should really make England's link play prosper.

I'm still optimistic that England under Capello can still improve the way they keep possession. The way England pass the ball and don't give it away for the first half hour is starting to look superb. What we need to learn is how to do the same whilst killing off a game. Then we might win something, with a proper manager involved.

False Dawn 2?

The British and Irish Lions 74-10 annihilation of the Golden (formerly Gauteng) Lions evoked memories of the same game 12 years ago when Jon Bentley’s try kick-started the Lions ultimately successful tour. Suddenly all the naysayers from the weekend’s stuttering win in Rustenburg have changed their tune.

There’s now a feeling that the Lions can take on the world champions in their own Highveld back yards and upset the odds. A tall order for a scratch side against a team with such strength in depth as the Boks, but a possibility nonetheless.

Much rests on the emerging midfield partnership of Brian O’Driscoll and Jamie Roberts. Their combination of guile and power in attack is balanced by them both being quality defensive operators, stopping the opposition centres crossing the gain line.

The fly half and centres berths are where the Lions seem to have an edge – Francois Steyn is unpredictable as a number 10, and can be overconfident and get isolated when in the centre. Stephen Jones would be my fly half for his steady hand and underrated eye for a gap, plus his unflappable kicking.

A back row of Heaslip at Number 8 with David Wallace and Tom Croft roaming on the flanks should be a good counter to the Boks such as Juan Smith and Pierre Spies who are certainly in the Croft school of pacy back rowers. Lee Mears makes an impression far larger than his actual size, and may well be at the front of the queue for the hooker berth, whilst the dynamic Gethin Jenkins and old head Phil Vickery battered the Lions around the fringes sand look to be in pole position for the first test.

The second row battle for lineout supremacy will be critical, with Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha practically unbeatable on their own throw and adept at disrupting opponents ball. Paul O’Connell and whoever his partner is (Alun Wynn Jones?) will have to compete to at least ensure they don’t get clean ball.

It certainly seems to be one of the most together Lions tours for a while – the way in which players seem to know where their team-mates are already bodes well for the way in which they’ll have to stick together when the Boks get physical.

I for one am looking forward to it, and feel the Lions can pull it off. If they win the first test – a fast go-forward start will do it – then we can take the series.

False Dawn 1?

England cricket teams and false dawns. The two seem to go hand in hand. In the run up to an Ashes series in England, a wave of optimism is hardly news, but now England have had a couple of comprehensive wins against a poor West indies side plus a couple of limited overs thrashes, it now appears we are even capable of winning the World Twenty20 as well!

Some of the positivity in the England camp will certainly be stemming from the new group of Australian Ashes tourists. No Hayden, Warne, McGrath, Langer, or Gilchrist – a group of experienced winners. A noticeable lack of a front-line spinner. No Andrew Symonds. All major plusses which England will have appreciated.

On the down side, Mitchell Johnson and Phil Hughes have both been in fine form and a fit again Brett Lee is a proposition no England batsman will look forward to with much relish. Ricky Ponting's options are now far more limited, but he is too canny a captain to make the same mistakes twice, and desperately wants a series win in England.

There is an argument to say that the ECB have done themselves no favours allowing players such as the prodigious batsman Hughes to spend time acclimatising at Middlesex; but this is certainly a double edged sword as county bowlers (and the England analysts) will have had a chance to get a good look at his technique in English conditions when the ball swings.

With Ravi Bopara now seemingly as important to England as Kevin Pietersen, James Anderson the new Darren Gough alongside Stuart Broad in the bowling attack, it certainly seems England have gamebreakers where once they had plodders.

It certainly looks like an interesting summer for England, there seems very little chance we’ll win the Twenty20 tournament (look for South Africa or India) as we don’t innovate enough, but if the above mentioned players are backed up by Alastair Cook playing his immovable best, and a few wickets from Graeme Swann on turning pitches (prepared for no Aussie spinner), there is a good chance we can get something out of the Ashes. With the now usual one test appearance from Flintoff, surely the sky's the limit?