England have just abolished their A team, but you wouldn't have known it from the XI they sent out today. After going to Zimbabwe with a half-new squad, they went a step further and picked a team at Bulawayo that contained neither of the old sweats, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe. The only player with more than 30 one-day caps was Nick Knight. And still they won by a country mile. They did so because five men put their hand up, as Nasser likes to say, and made major contributions. Marcus Trescothick showed what he thought of the cares of office by ambling out and smacking the ball around like a pinch-hitter. When he scores this fast, he doesn't need to make more than 40 to 50.

On one-day merit, it should have been Knight standing in as captain (he knows all about leading A teams), but if the decision rankled, he didn't show it as he matched Trescothick almost blow for blow and sortie for sortie. They make unlikely dance partners, but effective ones.

The other three contributors, significantly, were allrounders. When England collapsed, it was a shame for Owais Shah, but no problem from any other point of view as Paul Collingwood and Andy Flintoff conducted a cool-headed rebuilding operation. Flintoff was fearsome, in a way no one else can be for England when Graeme Hick is out of favour. Collingwood was shrewd, brisk, selectively aggressive. He has booked his place to India and New Zealand in the new year, global politics permitting.

England's fifth man was Ben Hollioake, who couldn't be bothered with the bat but then applied himself doggedly with the ball. When he and Flintoff came on a week ago, the wheels came off, but today, with Matthew Hoggard rested, they actually improved things. Collingwood chipped in, Paul Grayson took his chance, and James Foster did well for a man with a bent ear and a slapped wrist. Between them, they all made Trescothick's job easy.

For Zimbabwe, there were three rays of light in a heavy grey sky. Grant Flower was himself again, Dougie Marillier officially became a bowler, and Sean Ervine, fresh out of the local academy, showed that it wasn't just his hair that had some of Colin Miller's bottle. The future's bright - the future's yellow.

Tim de Lisle is editor of Wisden.com.

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