A recipe for, well, something ...

If international sport is supposed to be about the thrill of competition, then the Commonwealth Bank Series has failed.

If international sport is supposed to be about the thrill of competition, then the Commonwealth Bank Series has failed. Both Michael Vaughan and Stephen Fleming have practically admitted that Australia's path to the final cannot be stopped, while the third captain, Ricky Ponting, has shown what he thinks of it all by giving himself a game off. In effect this turns the tournament into a four-match play-off for World Cup bragging-rights between England and New Zealand, who play each other in St Lucia on March 17. Mercifully, England can make the early noise.

In terms of strategy, losing constructively to Australia while beating the other team - who, incidentally, are ranked fourth in the world - might be the most coherent thing England's one-day think-tank has come up with for quite a while.

One of the most alarming features of their poor form in 2006 (19 completed matches, four wins, one of them against Ireland) was the number of players they picked. Their total of 30 was five clear of the next most indecisive nations, India and Zimbabwe, who at least had the excuse of playing more matches (30 and 29) than England (20). Just as telling was the fact that 15 of England's players played in five games or fewer: next comes India with 10.

We were promised that the farces of 1996, 1999 and 2003 would not be repeated, and in a sense we have not been misled: 2007 could be even worse. So here is England's task over the next four weeks: they must establish their best one-day team in the circumstances, a task they've spent the last four years studiously avoiding, and stick with it until the World Cup, regardless of results. Picking a 36-year-old wicketkeeper and a spin bowler who had played 11 List A one-day games smacked of panic. Imagine what it would have smacked of had England delayed choosing Paul Nixon and Monty Panesar (who should have been picked earlier if he was a genuine World Cup candidate) until March.

England must be happy with their batting gameplan, which essentially means they must stop fretting about Australia's muscle-bound top seven. To match their power, you would have to pick and mix: Chris Gayle, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kevin Pietersen, Shahid Afridi, Justin Kemp, Andrew Flintoff and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. No one else possesses a whole phalanx of six-hitters, so there's no reason why England should.

With that in mind, they must not compromise what few strengths they have. Why separate the opening partnership of Andrew Strauss (ODI average: 34) and Ian Bell (40) to accommodate Michael Vaughan (28) when the previous two stands between Strauss and Bell were 82 (against West Indies) and 83 (Australia)? Vaughan should bat at No3 and learn, even at the age of 32, how to work the ball around. That's if his fitness will allow him: ominously, he was hobbling all over Hobart earlier this morning.

The absence of Pietersen - depressing though it is for those of us who were hoping for some batting eye-candy - at least gives Ed Joyce the chance to show that he can challenge for a place, and there isn't much wrong when your Nos5-7 are Paul Collingwood, Flintoff and the underrated Jamie Dalrymple, who should always bat ahead of the keeper, whether it's Nixon or Chris Read.

The bowlers can only be Jon Lewis, who bowled poorly today against New Zealand, Panesar and Jimmy Anderson, who has to learn not to mix up his Test and one-day lengths. With Steve Harmison retired, Matthew Hoggard a fish out of water in pyjamas, Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood too unreliable, and Stuart Broad overlooked, there quite simply is no one else, unless England repeat their mistake of bringing back Ashley Giles.

Duncan Fletcher once said that a player needs to play 30 one-day internationals to get used to his role. England missed that boat a long time ago. But they have seven more games - 10 if they play out of their skins - to give the same team (minus Pietersen) the chance to get ready for the Caribbean. If they are still tinkering by the end of January, they do not deserve our sympathy.

Taken from The Spin, Guardian Unlimited's weekly glance at the world of cricket.