Filed under: Cricket, England Cricket, World Cup, ODIs
Jade Dernbach has finally arrived in the sub-continent to bolster England's injury-ravaged squad and he could be Andy Flower's ace in the hole.The tattooed arms of Dernbach are hardly known to most English cricket supporters outside of Surrey and England's international unknown may well have turned up at just the right time.
Far too often England have been conservative when it comes to team selection, reluctant to opt for an inventive inclusion that could surprise opponents.
That is possibly one of the reasons why they are still searching for their first ever World Cup success.
The unconvincing way England have made it to the last eight has hardly sent confidence levels shooting off the scale and raised hopes that the long wait is about to come to an end.
The tried and tested method of going to Paul Collingwood (despite his knee injury) and his medium pace to bolster the usual array of seam bowling, which has been so ineffective in the sub-continent so far, has frequently proved ineffective and it's hard to see the pattern of under-achievement being altered if they persist with that strategy.
In addition, England will rely heavily on Graeme Swann in Colombo while James Tredwell is still sweating to see whether he gets the call to join him as his spin partner.
Yet, no matter which of the established names play, every team remaining in the tournament will have seen video footage, or spent time hunched over their lap tops checking out the England bowlers and will have plans for each and everyone of them.
That is where Dernbach has an advantage. No team in the sub-continent will know about him.
And given the lack of county cricket the centrally contracted players play these days, it's a fair bet a few of his England team mates will not know much about him either.
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Dernbach had to pack his bags and fly in from the West Indies where he has been with the Lions squad, taking 19 wickets at 15.63 from five games.
In his kit will be a vast arsenal of slower balls and reverse swing that could just give England that kind of extra dimension which could give them the edge over Sri Lanka.
England need freshening up. They have been on the road for almost six months and although Dernbach was born and raised in South Africa before moving to England at the age of 14, it might not be too long before he adds Three Lions to his collection of body art.
"South Africa's not my home at all. I don't owe anything to South Africa. I was just born there, did a bit of schooling there, my whole cricket career has been based in the UK, and UK is my home," he said.
"I want to give everything I can to England cricket. That's the country I love and that's the country that has given me everything I have now."
For Dernbach what counts too is "not the years in your life, but the life in your years" and he has crammed in quite a reasonable amount so far, but that is not enough.
He has not arrived in the sub-continent to carry the drinks. He arrives wanting to play, rather than simply hoping to play and while It would be a brave call to select him, it could reap huge rewards.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/03/23/cricket-world-cup-jade-dernbach-england-sri-lanka/
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