Young England have their task cut out

When the England Under-19 side takes on South Zone Under-19s at the Guru Nanak College ground from January 15, the two sides will have very different points to prove. For the home side, the game is a golden opportunity. The young guns who comprise the squad will be keen to catch the eye of the selectors. There's no better way of doing that than making a mark against an international side. England have shown that they are susceptible to bowling of the slower variety.

Arjun Yadav, the skipper of the South Zone Under-19 side will be keen to exploit this weakness. The Hyderabad cricketer has a fair bit of experience under his belt already. Although he was part of the Indian team that won the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka last year, Yadav did not get to play a game on that tour. Funnily enough, the other lad who did not get a game in the Under-19 World Cup was Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan. The left arm spinner destroyed England in the first `Test' at Mumbai scalping 8/38 in the second innings. Yadav too will be eager to make his mark in similar fashion.

For the visitors, the three day warm up game at Chennai is crucial. After collapsing from 160/1 to 183 all out, the confidence of the batsmen is likely to have taken a severe beating. After losing by 167 runs, they need all the match practice they can get before they play the second `Test' at Chennai beginning on January 20. Although the England side can take heart from the batting form of skipper Ian Bell and the manner in which the mediumpacers have gone about their duties, there is little else going for them. Their two left arm spinners, Robert Ferley and Monty Panesar have not been able to find their rhythm against attacking Indian batsmen.

Given that, it is likely that England will rest Bell, mediumpacers Justin Bishop and Andrew McGarry. This gives them a chance to play opener John Sadler, Chris Tremlett and Gordon Muchall. In Bell's absence, the mantle of captaincy falls on stumper Mark Wallace. The chirpy Glamorgan lad will have to work hard to come out on top. Always egging on the team when on the field, Wallace has shown courage with the bat as well. In the second innings at Mumbai, Wallace battled hard and faced as many as 91 balls for five runs when wickets fell around him like nine pins. Speaking about his effort while training at the Guru Nanak College ground on the eve of the match, Wallace said, "I had a chat with Graham Saville, the manager, during the match and he told me a few things about playing on uncovered tracks. That helped. I also tried to play back as much as possible to negate the chance of giving a catch to the close-in fielder. When you're pushing forward, it's much more likely that you'll get out that way." Obviously someone who thinks a fair bit about the game, Wallace went on to add, "Much like what Graham Thorpe did in Pakistan. He showed one way of tackling the spinners on these kind of tracks."

The England team tried hard to simulate a match scenario in their practice sessions on Sunday. The coach of the side, Tim Boon, made every player go out of the nets and play the spinners on the dusty surrounds of the manicured wickets. With the ball jumping and turning a bit, he brought in fielders close to the bat on either side. To add to the ambience, the close catchers appealed loud and hard at everything that brushed bat or pad. Whether the innovative practice sessions help or not remains to be seen. One thing is certain though, the England camp are certainly thinking along the right lines.