Hussain starts World Cup countdown

Nasser Hussain's one-day team jetted back to India yesterday with their thinking caps on and a plan in their captain's pocket. Like most sides who travel to the sub-continent their task is a formidable one, but if the Test series there before Christmas proved English cricket has a future, the one-day matches will be used to ensure the side peaks at the appointed time and place of next year's World Cup in South Africa.

Given an OBE in the New Year's honours list, England's captain makes no secret of the fact that preparations for the previous two World Cups were disastrous. A man who believes in preparing carefully by poring over the fine detail, Hussain is determined that his side should not be caught cold for a third time.

"We've gone into the last two World Cups in shambolic manner, with confused tactics and players not knowing their roles," said Hussain at Heathrow yesterday, no doubt referring to the debâcle presided over by Alec Stewart in 1999, when England were knocked out before they had reached the second phase.

He added: "Over the next year, we will try and get everything in place for the next World Cup. Every side that has done well in the competition has had a plan with each playing knowing his role within the side.

"Instead of being reactive, as we have been in the past – for example, in our use of pinch-hitters – we need to be proactive, setting trends in one-day cricket rather than following them. It's no good trying to copy something Australia are doing half-way through the tournament. You just can't do that."

If that sounds like the kind of fighting talk most of us have heard before, Hussain has at least managed to get the spin going his way by inspiring his young team to rise to challenges thought to be beyond their tender years. Although the next seven weeks will present more obstacles, it also provides further opportunity for players such as James Foster, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood and even Andrew Flintoff, to prove they are worth persevering with.

That process, at least in one-day cricket, was begun in rough during the five one-day matches in Zimbabwe last September, though little should be read into the five victories over what was little more than a two-man side. Before that, against better sides, England had lost 11 matches on the bounce to Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the worst run in their history.

More will be revealed over the course of the 11 one-day internationals (six in India, five in New Zealand) coming up, not least the true extent of the damage caused by a decade's worth of neglect to the one-day game in this country. Fifteen years ago it was possible to take the World Cup seriously while treating other one-dayers as chewing-gum for the masses, but not any longer. One-day cricket, especially in India, is the main currency used to broker the television deals that now bankroll the game.

England's task will be difficult not least because Hussain will be less effective as both a one-day player and strategist. The careful plotting that went into the Test series against India worked extremely well, but success in limited-overs cricket – unless you are a side of grooved automatons as Australia have become, often revolves around gambling – hunches and luck, not a slow squeeze.

The return of Darren Gough and Andy Caddick will add experience, though not on Indian pitches after the pair had absented themselves from the Test tour before Christmas. Whatever Hussain's private thoughts on the matter, he was quick to open his arms to them, though he did remind them that with three pace bowlers a luxury in India, they faced competition from Matthew Hoggard.

"There is immense respect from both their captain and team-mates over what Gough and Caddick have done for English cricket," said Hussain. "You need character in your dressing-room and both Gough and Caddick are characters, but it is up to them to buy into what Duncan [Fletcher, the coach]and I are trying to achieve with a young, energetic side.

"Like Gough, Hoggard has shown he'll run through brick walls for you." Hoggard is also an exceptional white-ball bowler, swinging it when it is new. In India it will be important to take wickets with the new ball, not least because the opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly are also their best batsmen."

Stripped down, the one-day game comprises three parts: the start, the middle bit, and the death. Since contesting the 1992 World Cup final, England have faltered mainly in the middle bit with bat and ball, with only Graham Thorpe able to claim mastery of the subtle skills required to move the score along at five an over without taking risks. More than anything, England will be looking for a player to help Thorpe out in this now crucial period of the game.

Another shortcoming in England's game is felt to be their frailty under floodlights – losing 14 of their last 16 matches beneath them. To that end, eight of the forthcoming matches will be played under lights, though in truth most sides chasing a par total tend to lose.

"India, with the huge crowds one-day cricket attracts there, will be organised chaos," said Hussain. "But whether we play under lights or under sun, we must train the brain and work hard. We simply haven't got enough cricket before the World Cup to mess about with anything else."