England refuse to panic despite defeat in first Test

ENGLAND have become the second best Test side in the world by persevering with selections — so to ditch such a policy when beaten once by the best would be premature and could be ultimately damaging.

Frustration from all quarters, given the excitement of the seemingly endless build-up to the Ashes, should not spill over into rash decision making.

Michael Vaughan's men were anxious to get at the Australians early and it showed at Lord's, where the pace of the match, catalysed by a heady atmosphere, spun them through all kinds of emotions inside the first day and where they grabbed over-eagerly at their chances in the field rather than relax and allow catches to come to them.

It was as if they could not wait for their opportunities to show they are the unit most equipped to take on Australia right now and the England team most likely to wrest back the Ashes urn since it was lost in 1989.

The plain fact is, regardless of the 239-run defeat, they are on both counts. That is as good a reason as any for the three selectors, who meet later this week, to pick the XI who played at Lord's in the squad for next week's encounter at Edgbaston.

Mike Gatting, skipper when England last won the Ashes, agrees with the need for continuity in selection.

"I wouldn't make any changes to either team. That would be a knee-jerk reaction at this stage. England must now regroup and get some runs," said Gatting.

A week ago the dust had settled on Graham Thorpe's omission and the only debate was whether Kevin Pietersen's technique at Test level would match the temperament of his first nine months of international cricket.

He was drafted in as one of the best 11 cricketers in England, the ones the team management believed could do the job. All that has changed is that the world champions have done something that has become their second nature. Won. Again.

They did so at a venue which has become their home from home, a ground where they had not been beaten in a Test since 1934. To begin there was an administrative blunder, perhaps, a psychological boost to Ricky Ponting's men, definitely, and a sign of what is to come, maybe. It certainly got the tourists' two great bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne into their finest fettle as they each used the slope to destructive effect. Perhaps the series should have opened at Edgbaston, the scene of a first Test win over the Aussies in 1997, but harping on about that does not alter the fact England are 1-0 down.

There are still four games to play, so forget what has gone and prepare as diligently again and execute the plans carried out over the first two sessions last Thursday.

If they believed they could do it last week, then why not now? Sure, that inner belief will have taken a knock but send out the same team and allow them the chance to overcome it and make amends.

One alteration to the party which was on duty at Lord's could be the call-up of Paul Collingwood, whose only two Test appearances to date came in Sri Lanka two winters ago, in place of fast bowler Chris Tremlett.

Collingwood would offer an alternative to Ashley Giles if it was felt that the Edgbaston surface was unlikely to aid the spinners, slotting in at number seven, thus lengthening England's batting, adding vigour in the field and a tidy fifth bowling option.

Introducing an extra batsman is ultimately a negative move, however, and one which failed spectacularly at the same venue in the 2001 Ashes.

Being overstacked in one department leaves a team deficient in another and Vaughan, who likes balance in his attack, would rue the lack of spin if Australia were chasing a target on the final day. To ditch Giles would be wrong. England did not score enough runs for conventional spin to be effective and although the way the Australians, particularly Michael Clarke, took to him was a concern, their prowess against the turning ball earned wins in India and Sri Lanka last year.

The very nature of his art is a world apart from that of Warne and one which served England so well during their record-breaking success; employed mostly as a defensive foil whose spells allow the pacemen to rest in the deep, the 32-year-old came into his own when he took 28 wickets in the final five Tests of last summer.

It is the evidence of the past year, not the past week, which will be of greatest value now is not the time to panic.