Cricket: England One Day Problems: The Middle Order

The middle order of England's batting lineup has been a constant problem for the Test side in recent months, and there's every chance that it will remain a problem in the upcoming one day games.

There is a lot of talent and a lot of potential in the middle order and Kevin Pietersen is capable of changing the look of a game quickly batting at four.

Ravi Bopara is likely to bat at number six ahead of Owais Shah or Dimitri Mascheranas.

Whilst Bopara has done little in his international career so far, a fantastic record breaking 201 not out for Essex recently shows his potential. This series could well be the one where Bopara breaks out, and there is much reason to be optimistic over him.

However, there are a couple of problems with the middle order. 

The number three batsman should be a player who is capable of scoring big runs consistently, a player capable of taking the game away from the opposition. A player like Ricky Ponting of Australia, or Jaques Kallis of South Africa.

England's number three is Ian Bell.

Bell has the same problem in one day games as he does in Tests, he so rarely produces that match winning score needed of him.

Bell has scored just one ODI century in 62 innings, a fantastic 126 not out against India last year. He has also added 14 half centuries, which is quite good.

But England need more than someone who is quite good at number three. The Australians wouldn't settle for a player that was quite good at number three; they would accept only the best. Why should this not be the same for England?

Ian Bell needs to start proving soon that he is capable of standing up and producing good, big scores on a regular basis if he wants to keep his place in the England squad.

The England captain, Paul Collingwood, is another problem.

His ascension to captaincy struck me as being nothing more than a 'right place, right time' situation. With an inexperienced team, he was the only real choice for captaincy purely by virtue of the fact he was the oldest. He had no experience of captaincy at all.

Four series and a twenty20 World Cup into his reign and he was still making mistakes as captain. At times he appears more reactionary than proactive, and at other times he doesn't appear switched on at all. For example, he got his numbers wrong in the ODI at Napier this winter: for the vital last over of a match in the balance, all of the front line bowlers had been used up, leaving Luke Wright to bowl his first over.

There is no one better available for the role, but I still do not feel he is the answer as captain in the long run.

Furthermore I just don't rate him as a player.

He can bat a little bit, he can bowl a little bit. He's nothing special at either, and his status as an all rounder, for me, does little but belie the fact he's nothing more than a jack of all trades, master of none.

However, there is much scope for optimism further down the order. Stuart Broad looks like he may become a genuine all rounder. Dimitri Mascheranas is a player capable of coming in late and changing the complexion of an innings in a single over. Ryan Sidebottom has emerged as a world-class bowler in recent months. James Anderson may well have turned the corner and be heading towards becoming one of the world's best bowlers.

There is much room for optimism in the team. If Ian Bell can start scoring runs at three and a good opening pair can be found, then in the future this may be a very strong team.

Whether it will be a strong team under Paul Collingwood is unclear, although I hope he proves me wrong and leads the team to success.