Cricket: Tremlett set to miss out again

CHRIS Tremlett looks set to be frustrated in his hopes of forcing an England recall, despite being named in an unchanged 12-man squad for the final npower Test against New Zealand.

The Hampshire seamer seems ideally placed to make his first Test appearance since last summer when England assemble this week at Trent Bridge, a ground where he has enjoyed considerable success at both county and international level.

But, after announcing the same squad yesterday, national selector Geoff Miller dropped a major hint they were about to end 123 years of chopping-and-changing tradition by naming the same Test line-up for the fifth successive match for the first time since 1884-5.

“We’ll wait to see what the conditions are like. They’ll do all the normal preparation and then we’ll wait and see,” explained Miller.

“But we’ve just won three Tests out of four against New Zealand with the same side so that will probably be the side, although things can happen in the next two or three days.”

As 26-year-old Tremlett prepares to pack his kit to assemble at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough, where England will train today, Miller’s comments will come as a major disappointment.

Tremlett’s ability to gain extra lift and bounce proved very effective last year at Trent Bridge when he claimed three for 12 in the second innings against India, and he has taken 11 wickets in his only two championship matches there for Hampshire, including five for 80 in 2005.

There are also the inconsistent performances of England’s seam attack to consider – with the exception of Ryan Sidebottom – after Stuart Broad finished victimless during last week’s six-wicket victory at Old Trafford.

If Broad, Sidebottom and Jimmy Anderson are once again given the vote to continue as the seam attack at Trent Bridge, the onus is on them to ensure New Zealand are not given the opportunity to bounce back and level the series at a ground which traditionally favours swing bowling.

Recent performances in Nottingham suggest they should find conditions in their favour once again after a succession of low scores at the ground this season in championship cricket.

In the 10 completed innings so far this year, the highest score has been 279, the average score is only 226, while the average first-innings total is just 213 – figures which should encourage England’s bowlers, but also concern the mis-firing top order.

Both Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood would probably have been under greater scrutiny for their places had England not fought back from a 179-run first-innings deficit at Old Trafford to win a game they were favourites to lose.

After 11 successive Tests without England’s top order posting a first-innings total in excess of 400, the pair were in danger of becoming the first casualties of the summer, but a scratchy, unbeaten 46-run stand between them to seal victory in Manchester has given them another chance.

The perception remains that Bell does not score the hard runs when England are in trouble, while Collingwood was perhaps in greater danger of losing his place after failing to score a Test century in his last 22 innings.

But, having reaped the rewards for their patience with captain Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss, who both emerged from run droughts to score centuries in this series, the England selectors are staying loyal for the time being at least.