England recall refusenik Caddick

Whatever the new year resolutions of England's selectors, forgiveness was not high on the list following yesterday's announcement of the 16-man squad to play three Tests against New Zealand during March. Standing largely by the players who performed so tenaciously in India, the panel's only concession to the refuseniks who stayed at home was to pick Andrew Caddick, a proven performer upon the more bowler-friendly pitches expected in the country of his birth.

It is the change in conditions from India, that has also seen Andrew Flintoff retained in place of off-spinner, Martyn Ball. A late inclusion for India, Flintoff impressed with his hostile bowling, but not his batting, which atrophied to the point where he scratched about like a rank tailender. With Craig White missing the forthcoming one-day series in India – though not New Zealand – following surgery to the knee he injured during the Bangalore Test, Flintoff has the opportunity to re-discover his touch with the bat without feeling under pressure.

"In picking this squad, we were keen to retain the nucleus of the team that exceeded many people's expectations in India," said David Graveney, the chairman of selectors. "Flintoff made a significant impact with the ball on the sub-continent and thoroughly deserves to keep his place in the squad.

"It was always our intention to reduce the number of spinners from three to two for the second leg of the winter's tours as we expect to encounter more seam-friendly surfaces in New Zealand." Caddick, who along with Robert Croft, declined to tour India following 11 September, will replace the man who originally replaced him, his Somerset team-mate Richard Johnson. By playing in just one warm-up match in India, Johnson, close to Test selection last summer, never really got the chance to prove himself.

Croft, a less likely match-winner than Caddick, has not been as fortunate as the pace bowler. But while he was named in the winter squad named on 28 August, and then told that his decision to stay at home would not be held against him, the off-spinner has found himself surplus to requirements, following the painless blooding of 21-year old Richard Dawson.

"Every player who doesn't get picked for England is disappointed and I'm no different," said Croft. "The lads in India have done well and it is up to me to work hard to get my place back." Although picked, one player who needs to charm the selectors is Surrey's new signing, James Ormond. A talented pace bowler, the official line on Ormond is that he has to pass a fitness test on his shoulder before being allowed to proceed to New Zealand.

While it is true that Ormond did suffer some discomfort from his shoulder in India, his pint-in-hand, fag-in-mouth attitude, barely acceptable 30 years ago, did not exactly endear him to the management. For what it's worth, his fitness test sounds like a shot across the bows warning him to change his slothful ways.

Although no replacement has been named for Ormond, should the bowler fail his medical, the most likely is Steve Harmison. A tall, genuinely fast bowler, Harmison has apparently made impressive strides at the academy in Adelaide under the auspices of Rod Marsh.

Had this been the first leg of the winter's tours, Harmison might have gone anyway as a 17th player. Yet, with the England and Wales Cricket Board having to pay Croft a percentage of his six-month winter contract – one he actually breached when he refused to go to India – purse strings are being tightened until the process can be made more efficient.

Darren Gough, who will play in both one-day series, has also been mentioned as a replacement. However, for the Yorkshireman to play in the Tests would require the kind of u-turn his captain, Nasser Hussain, recently awarded the OBE for services to cricket, is not renowned for. Welcoming Gough back with open arms would, in any case, set a bad precedent and open the floodgates for those prima donnas wishing to cherry-pick their tours.

With Caddick returned and Graham Thorpe now committed to cricket following his marital problems, it is a far stronger-looking England side that travels to New Zealand than the one that finished strongly in India. Looks can be deceptive though and the rookie element will have to continue their fast-track education, begun so impressively in Ahmedabad, if England are to return home in April with their first Test championship points.

* The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced a venue change for England's three-day tour match with Otago. The match, beginning on 2 March, has been switched from Dunedin to Queenstown.