England's bowling woes.

So what to make of England's one day series with New Zealand? Mike Atherton writing for the Telegraph online summed up The Three Lions performance well, "horrible in Wellington and Hamilton, mighty good in Auckland and mighty inconsistent elsewhere."

The farcical end to the final match overshadowed a New Zealand side who undoubtedly deserved their series crown. The game finished with the players in the dressing room amid confusion brought about by the notorious Duckworth-Lewis method. BBC radio 5 lives Jonathan Agnew blamed England's lack of a spin bowler for the defeat. "New Zealand, who read the conditions correctly, opted to play two spinners. England chose none and, unwisely, continued their policy of choosing just three front-line bowlers."

The problems in the bowling attack look set to worsen with the news that Ryan Sidebottom may miss the opening test which begins on the 4th March. The news from the England Cricket Board is that he "injured his right hamstring during the final one-day international in Christchurch on Saturday." and "will face intensive treatment to try to ensure he is fit and ready to take the new ball for the first Test. "

The view from inside the England camp is a little more optimistic however, writing for BBC sport, Graeme Swann had this to say of England's attack. "We have some brilliant guys coming in like Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison. That's in addition to James Anderson and Stuart Broad - it's an awesome line up."

England unquestionably have a point to prove, and will hopefully put in a strong performance in the first test.

Links:
Jonathan Agnew - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2008/02/england_pay_for_batting_uncert.shtml
Graeme Swann - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2008/02/england_continue_learning_curv.shtml
Mike Atherton -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/02/24/scaths124.xml
England Cricket Board -
http://www.ecb.co.uk/england/fitness-worries-for-england,16466,EN.html