Onus on England to win

It is just as well that the England tour party has received a massive injection of new blood for the one-day series against Bangladesh, which begins at Chittagong tomorrow morning. Because on paper at least, the only thing that could possibly prevent them from achieving a 3-0 clean-sweep would be fatigue, borne of the most brutal fitness regime they have ever been subjected to.

The recent Test series may have showcased Bangladesh's new competitive spirit (albeit briefly) but it would be nothing short of a miracle if they reproduced that same defiance over the coming week. Forty-four matches have gone by since Bangladesh's last victory of any description, that dubious performance against Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup. In the intervening four-and-a-half years, they haven't even threatened a repeat performance in one-day cricket. Kenya have rolled them over in six matches out of seven all told, and even Canada had their day in the sun at the last World Cup. If one-day cricket is a lottery, then Bangladesh would be better off investing in stocks and shares.

Once again, it is Bangladesh's batting that is their biggest drawback. In Test cricket, Dav Whatmore's influence is slowly being brought to bear, but it takes more than a gritty attitude to overcome years of batting on puddingy pitches in a sub-standard club competition, particularly when runs are of the essence. After 79 one-day internationals, just one batsman - Mehrab Hossain - has made a century, and he has since retired. Their fielding may have improved markedly in recent months, but in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza, their one genuine strike bowler, Bangladesh face being run ragged by an England side brimming with big-hitters. This will be all the more likely if the top wicket-taker in the Test series, Mohammad Rafique, is ruled out with a thigh strain.

Quite simply, England have to win, and win well. For once, the ICC one-day championship table is in agreeance. Its convoluted ratings system currently believes England to be the third-best one-day team in the world, although with six countries separated by three points, any slip-up would leave them dangling in a highly appropriate eighth place.

England have traditionally treated one-day matches with a somewhat blasé attitude, but Michael Vaughan admitted that the pressure to perform was all-too-apparent in this brief series, especially after England's victories over South Africa and Pakistan in the summer. "We are building for the future, but I expect us to win out here," he said. "[In the summer] we were up against some good teams and I guess the pressure was off us in some ways. But we've come to Bangladesh and we expect to win, so the pressures are different straightaway."

For a team that has left nothing to chance on this tour, England have taken quite a punt on Bangladesh's lowly reputation. In tomorrow's opening fixture, they will be fielding one of the least inexperienced teams in their history, with an average of 30 ODI matches per head. Darren Gough has been left at home to contemplate his last (and first) hurrah in the Caribbean next April, which means that Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff are the only survivors from England's last match against Bangladesh, in the 2000-01 ICC Knockout at Nairobi. There is no doubting the huge potential of England's line-up, however, especially if the middle-order triumvirate of Flintoff, Rikki Clarke and Ian Blackwell come good. Clarke must first recover from a virus, along with England's bowling hero of the Chittagong Test, Richard Johnson.

England will have learned nothing from yesterday's farcical warm-up fixture against the BCB Development XI. But Flintoff and Blackwell will have enjoyed the feeling of bat on ball, while Ashley Giles will be grateful for three cheap wickets after an ignominious Test series. He has now sorted out his run-up and regained a spring in his step, and should be heartened by a drier, balder Chittagong wicket than the greentop that was prepared last week.

England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Vikram Solanki, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Ian Blackwell, 8 Chris Read (wk), 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Richard Johnson, 11 James Anderson.

Bangladesh (from) 1 Khaled Mahmud (capt), 2 Hannan Sarkar, 3 Nafis Iqbal, 4 Moniruzzaman, 5 Habibul Bashar, 6 Rajin Saleh, 7 Alok Kapali, 8 Mushfiqur Rahman, 9 Khaled Mashud (wk), 10 Mohammad Rafique, 11 Manzural Islam, 12 Jamaluddin, 13 Tapash Baisya, 14 Anwar Munir.