ENGLAND have their best chance of winning in the West Indies since the all-out fast-bowling era began, now that continuity has been assured by Mike Atherton's reappointment. Had a new captain been installed now, he might not have lasted more than 18 months, and been broken by the three hard series which the old TCCB lined up almost back to back in one of its last acts of incompetence.
The split into Test and one-day sides under separate captains, Atherton and Adam Hollioake, long advocated in this column, should also increase England's chance of surviving an otherwise insurmountable programme in some sort of tact. Atherton's worst times have occurred in one-day cricket after a Test series, whether in Zimbabwe or South Africa or at the World Cup, when he has not had the verve or inventiveness, or sufficient interest in the one-day game, to lift a lethargic team.
But in Test cricket, Atherton has succeeded in making England a harder team to beat - they have lost 16 Tests in his reign, against 22 in the 46 Tests before he took over - and it is right that he should attempt the next phase, now that he is convinced he has the desire to do so. Meanwhile, Nasser Hussain, sure to be the vice-captain this winter, has been given time to lengthen his fuse a little more and to learn the ropes as the likeliest successor. Well as he captained England A by all accounts on their tour of Pakistan two winters ago, he needs more experience than two handfuls of first-class matches in charge.
The next phase is that England should win more often. Like every other England captain since the first week of 1987, Atherton has not been able to win a Test series save against India at home, and against New Zealand at home and away. His tally of 12 wins is little more than the 10 of his predecessors in the equivalent period.
Atherton's challenge is to change the culture of the England team that makes them uncomfortable as frontrunners: as soon as they have taken a lead in a Test series, their hunger to win seems satisfied. The contrast was especially stark this summer. Mixed as motives are, an Australian plays first-class cricket in order to represent his country, and to win; an Englishman to make a living. Now, at least, Atherton has some bowlers who can win more than an occasional Test. Darren Gough, Dean Headley, Andy Caddick, Phil Tufnell and Robert Croft should form a fine attack this winter, even if the seamers will be over-bowled in summer until the ECB contracts them.
Another means towards England winning in the West Indies would be to liberate Alec Stewart from wicketkeeping, for in the last series there he and Atherton, as specialist openers, scored almost two-fifths of England's runs. More assertively than an opener making his way, whether Nick Knight or Mark Butcher, Stewart can seize the initiative, while Atherton concentrates on batting ``time'' - that is, all day. As a specialist opener, Stewart averages nothing less than 48; England have the two best right-handed openers in the world, if only they would pair them.
Jack Russell is assured of a tour place, but a Test place is another matter. On the ``nothing pitches'' that will prevail, Atherton wants two spinners, so again the dilemma: how to include them, and three seamers, and Russell? But we can be thankful if this turns out to be the greatest of England's problems in the West Indies, as seems likely now.