The Offside

The English selectors, when they sit down to pick a squad for the one-day series in India, will be faced with a simple task - to pick the best players available. With this in mind, it is self-evident that both Alec Stewart and Andrew Caddick are almost automatic entries into the squad that will travel to Kolkata for the first one-dayer on January 19.

Stewart and Caddick are most definitely two of the best players, in their respective fields, in England. The unspectacular performance of James Foster in the three-Test series showed that the visitors would have to rely yet again on Stewart's abilities to score big runs in front of the wickets and keep immaculately behind them.

England also suffered from the lack of an opening foil to Matthew Hoggard; Flintoff - a change bowler at best - was given the new ball, and a wicked spurt at Bangalore did little to take away from the fact that he cannot hope to become one of the world's great opening bowlers. The return of Caddick will see England's bowling rise several notches in terms of teeth and accuracy. Lacking any match practice, Stewart and Caddick will also find the one-day series as a useful re-entry point into international cricket ahead of a big tour to New Zealand.

With both players confirming their availability for the one-day series, there is no excuse for the selectors not to pick them. The time for any disciplinary action against them, for dropping out of the Test series, is well past, so omitting them as payback would only appear childish and immature. The fact remains that Nasser Hussain needs Stewart and Caddick badly, and it is the duty of the English selectors to give him the players he requires.

The Onside

The one thing that cricket bodies at any level are reluctant to do is to set a precedent. The English selectors are now in the uncomfortable position of setting a precedent whichever way they act. The omission or selection of Alec Stewart and Andrew Caddick will be a decision that future English selectors will look to when they come up against a similar quandry.

Including the pair in the squad for the one-day series has clear implications. It will henceforth be assumed that a player is free to pick and choose the tours he undertakes, dropping out of the "unfavourable" ones on thin excuses of wishing to spend more time at home. Any reasonably good player, with consistent performances in comfortable home conditions, could then be ensured of a berth in the squad as soon as he announced his availability.

On the other hand, a firm hand from the English selectors in omitting both Stewart and Caddick would drive home the lesson that it is not the player's prerogative to pick and choose his tours. Seniority in this matter should count for little; in fact, a senior player indulging in such behaviour should be dealt with more sternly for setting a poor example.

The choices, then, stare at the selectors. They could either avoid controversy and meekly pick Stewart and Caddick, or they could opt for the bumpy path and not pick them. For the sake of English cricket and world cricket in general, it is to be hoped that they choose the latter. A few setbacks in the one-day series arising from the absence of Caddick and Stewart will be well worth the path-breaking decision.

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