Yes, yes. We say this every four years, usually after England have plumbed new depths in a World Cup. But this time there really does seem to be a gameplan afoot (although we probably say that every four years too). Anyway, the Spin salutes the 14 men charged with returning the not-exactly-glory days back to English one-day cricket and has penned each player a short memo to celebrate the occasion ...
Paul Collingwood
Your task, Cap'n Colly, is to oversee an orderly progression to the next World Cup. This might sound pretty drab, but it's been beyond England since 1992, and we really don't want to be writing off your chances a year before the next big one in 2011. Don't stop fielding at backward point, please, and don't get all modest when it comes to bringing yourself on to bowl in helpful conditions. Oh, and please desist immediately from third-personitis. The Spin can't stand it.
Alastair Cook
It's generally forgotten that you've already played two ODIs, against Sri Lanka last summer, and did pretty well in both of them: 39 off 38 balls at Old Trafford; 41 off 54 at Headingley. Now's your chance to show everyone you're not merely a one-paced Test opener. You can't be Marcus Trescothick yet (you need a slog-sweep first), but you can easily be Andrew Strauss with a better cover-drive. Just keep working on that fielding...
Matt Prior
This is where it all starts: your chance to impersonate Adam Gilchrist. England have finally woken up to the reality of the powerplays, and you will probably be fingered with the responsibility of hitting over the top. It didn't quite work out when you opened in India last year, but your shot-selection has matured since then. Your aggression might also allow Cook time to work out his natural game.
Ian Bell
People forget that you average 35 in one-day cricket (the equivalent of 45 in Tests). Now you just need to up the strike-rate from 68 to 75, and hassle Collingwood for a few overs: two rabbits down the order mean a fiddled fifth bowler could be useful. Sit down and watch a video of your 77 against Australia in the World Cup. You played Glenn McGrath as well as anyone all tournament. You opened then, but do insist on batting at No3, which is your natural home.
Kevin Pietersen
Work on the off-breaks, but don't change anything else. You said that scoring one-day hundreds can become a habit. Prove it.
Owais Shah
An average of 18 from 18 ODIs is a shocker for a man of your talents, but transport yourself back to a NatWest Series game against Pakistan six years ago. It was your second match for England and you coolly added 170 with Trescothick before getting all cocky and running yourself out backing up. You publicly questioned Duncan Fletcher's lack of communication recently, so it's up to you to repay the new coach's faith. But where will you field?
Dimitri Mascarenhas
The Spin once saw you kick down the stumps at the end of a narrow defeat in a county championship game with Hampshire, and it would be great to see a refined version of this mongrel in the blue of England. Shane Warne has been singing your praises now for some time, so the pressure's on. If you can be a not-too-poor-man's Andrew Flintoff for the rest of the summer, you'll have done your job.
Michael Yardy
The Australians raised their eyebrows when you went in ahead of Pietersen in the Champions Trophy against India, but there might be a role for you in the lower-middle order as a second spinner. You recently told the Spin that you weren't quite "brave" enough during your first England stint. Expand your repertoire now, and there is no reason why you can't become the end-of-innings finisher.
Stuart Broad
There might never have been a better moment for a young English fast bowler to make a name for himself. All you have to do is demonstrate the accuracy that Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett have lacked and the new ball is yours. Some runs at No8 or 9 would go down well too.
Jimmy Anderson
In the absence of Flintoff, and at the tender age of 24, you are suddenly the senior bowler. First, it's time to do something about that economy rate of 4.79. Next, do something about your presence. Let the batsman know you're there. You managed it sporadically in the World Cup, but you need to make it the rule, not the exception.
Monty Panesar
You must become the attack's banker, which means doing what Daniel Vettori does for New Zealand and rushing through 10 overs while taking 2 for 35. At the moment it's 1 for 45, which does not do you credit. Don't be afraid to give the ball air. Oh, and keep appealing. It can be a handy method in one-day cricket of dissuading the batsman from taking a run
Jonathan Trott
Prove that your selection is not a total aberration. You joked the other day that you had been in terrible form this summer, but the Spin has seen you belt the cover off the ball more than once, and - depending on how aggressive the selectors are feeling - you best bet might be to oust your Warwickshire team-mate Bell.
Liam Plunkett
Your performance in the semi-final of the Friends Provident Trophy for Durham showed you haven't lost it, as some feared during the Test series. Now you need to slowly regain the trust of the management and prove that you, not Broad, should be the young thruster with the new ball and the wielding willow.
Ryan Sidebottom
Well, you have been picked as reward for bowling well to a dismal West Indies side, which is a dubious policy, but you will be 33 at the time of the next World Cup, so the selectors will be curious to see if the white ball swings as helpfully. The fielding is a concern - why do you look like you're running in a muddy meadow in Glastonbury? - but a match-winning spell over the next 12 days and you will have justified your selection.
This is an extract from Lawrence Booth's weekly email, The Spin
