England consistent at being inconsistent

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, Mar 11 (Reuters) England arrived in the West Indies full of confidence for the World Cup after coming back from the brink of elimination to win the recent tri-series in Australia.

But a humbling five-wicket defeat to their old enemy in their last warm-up on Friday will have reminded them of their one-day flaws and bitter memories of their 5-0 Ashes test series debacle.

Although they were bowled out for 197 on Friday, the batting line-up is settled and enhanced by the return of Kevin Pietersen, who has recovered for a broken rib sustained when charging down the wicket to Glenn McGrath in January.

Pietersen, with his flair for the unorthodox at number four, is key to England's chances in the seven-week tournament.

The strong middle-order also includes Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood, player-of-the-series in Australia with two centuries and a 70 as England won four matches in a row to take the title.

Up top captain Michael Vaughan made a fluent 62 in the defeat to Australia but there are still question marks over his fitness. He fielded for just 10 overs in the warm-up victory over Bermuda on Monday and 17 overs on Friday as he continues to recover from knee and hamstring trouble.

His one-day form is also nothing like his test figures, and he has yet to score an ODI century.

Ian Bell is now more attacking at number three and with out-of-form Andrew Strauss dropped for the warm-up games, Ed Joyce starts as opener after scoring a ton in Australia.

ALL INEFFECTIVE Jamie Dalrymple has yet to prove himself as a batsman and off-spin bowler and although Paul Nixon is competent with the gloves, and more than competent with the verbal abuse, he offers no more with the bat than Chris Read, a more skilled keeper who was overlooked for the trip to the Caribbean.

The bowling though is even more inconsistent.

England hoped to use Friday's match to decide which two of James Anderson, Jon Lewis, Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood would grab the World Cup seamer spots, but they were all ineffective in the face of Adam Gilchrist's swashbuckling 72.

There seems little to choose between them, for all the wrong reasons, although Vaughan said the Australia game had helped with the decision.

''We feel we have got a little bit nearer to deciding what we feel our best bowling attack is for these conditions,'' he told reporters.

Flintoff and left-arm spinner Monty Panesar are more threatening and economical but the weight of England's hopes with bat and ball has weighed Flintoff down before, notably in the Ashes.

Until only a few months ago, Panesar's weak fielding made England coach Duncan Fletcher see him as a one-day luxury but Vaughan is certainly a fan.

''He has proved in one-day cricket that he is going to be a threat on these kind of wickets. I can see him having a really good world cup,'' he said.

Before facing minnows Canada and Kenya, England's first World Cup Group C match is on Friday against New Zealand, full of confidence after whitewashing Australia 3-0 last month.

A win over the Kiwis in the first round in St Lucia should give England two valuable points for the Super Eights stage.

REUTERS SAM BST1206