LONDON, Apr 30 (Reuters/ Internet): Even by the standards of a national sporting culture with an in-built distrust of flair, the England squad for next month's World Cup is deeply conservative.

MARK RAMPRAKASH

Betting on the near certainty of a damp English spring and pitches conducive to seam bowling, England have opted for a team heavily weighted in favour of bits and pieces allrounders.

The list of absentees says as much about the current thinking at the top of English cricket as the names of the cast picked to represent the host nation.

There is no room for Middlesex captain Mark Ramprakash. one of the few successes during another unsuccessful Ashes campaign in Australia.

Dean Headley, who bowled England to their only victory in Australia, is missing and Test vice-captain Nasser Hussain, the best fielder in the side, won a place by default when Mike Atherton withdrew through in-

...v seleciuis can find no place either for Alex Tudor, who succeeded his Surrey team mate Ben Hollioake in Australia as the bright new hope of English cricket, while Hollioake has

been overlooked in favour of his less talented older brother Adam.

Instead, England have opted for a mix of proven one-day performers and a group or distinctly ordinary county professionals.

England have reached the semifinals twice and the final once on the three previous occasions the Cup has been staged in England.

But each time the England side was stronger than the current outfit ana it is no simplification to say the team's success depends on Alec Stewart succeeding in his three roles.

At the age of 36, Stewart will captain his country, open the batting and keep wicket in the most demanding overall burden carried by any individual in the tournament.

Stewart, like his mentor Graham Gooch, leads from the front and England can only hope that the batting form which has deserted him In recent months returns.

At his best, Stewart is a splendid striker of the ball and a successful partnership with the equally aggressive Nick Knight is crucial to England's chances.

Graham Thorpe is as proficient at one-day cricket as he is in the five-day game, averaging 40 in internationals and at the age of 35 Neil Fairbrother remains a master of scoring runs in unexpected areas.

In the field. Darren Gough is now a magnificent operator with both old and new ball and the one player in the England line-up to exude genuine star quality.

His opening partnership with the left-handed Alan Mullally has proven effective and Angus Fraser, still the best and most consistent seam bowler in England, will exploit to the full any favourable spring conditions.

A huge question mark, though, hangs over the backup players, particularly after seven one-day defeats in a row for the national team this year.

The quintet picked for their all-round qualities — Ian Austin, Mark Ealham, Andrew Flintoff. Hollioake and Vince Wells — rarely performed with the bat and were inconsistent with the ball.

Their medium-pace is bound to be more effective in England than in either Australia or Sharjah but the lack of runs is a real worry for Stewart.

"We get five down and then the rest are out for 30," Stewart said this week during a series of interviews to publicise a diary summarising his first year as England captain.

"We need the lower order to get 80 or 100 runs. We need more from the lower order."

Ealham and Hollioake have been tried at test level and found wanting while both Austin and Wells will be fortunate to ever win a test cap.

The player who may fill a yawning gap in both the test and one-day sides is Flintoff, a huge man who hits the ball with frightening power.

"He's a tremendous player." said Stewart. "He hits it hard and he hits it a long way."

Like Gooch, Stewart has trained himself to talk at length without giving anything away and his statements of the obvious tend to slide quickly into the banal.

Still it is hard to find fault with his appraisal of England's World Cup chances at a time of the year which confers a decided advantage on the home side.

"If we get close to our full potential then we will get close to winning it." Stewart concluded.