England place their trust in rust

England’s winter began, in India, with two bad days followed by a good one. They have now repeated the pattern in Australia, with Kevin Pietersen the star once again. At this rate, they will go 2-0 down in the Test series, before pulling one back in Perth through a blazing Pietersen hundred.

On Friday, after the little debacle against the Prime Minister’s XI, I wrote that England needed at least six players – ideally Flintoff, Trescothick, Pietersen, Hoggard, Harmison and one of the keepers – to do well against New South Wales. Today, two thirds of those wishes came true. Pietersen and Flintoff made runs – together, for once – and Hoggard and Harmison polished off the NSW lower order the way international new-ball bowlers are supposed to. That’s as many pieces slotting into the jigsaw as a touring team are entitled to hope for in one day.

Trescothick remains a big worry. If England had to name their Brisbane team now, they would surely be better giving him more time to find his touch and sticking with all three of Cook, Bell and Collingwood. Trescothick is being picked at the moment on past glories, not for anything he has done in the past year.

On the Jones-Read decision, I’m keeping my powder dry till tomorrow, when my Cricinfo column appears. But it wasn’t the only selection issue settled over the weekend. Duncan Fletcher also disclosed that Jimmy Anderson would be the fourth seamer for Brisbane, ahead of Saj Mahmood and Liam Plunkett, who is making an early bid for forgotten man status.

Anderson’s rapid return provokes mixed feelings. In terms of skills, he is the best choice. He is closer to the finished article than the mercurial Mahmood or the anodyne Plunkett. Anderson is a Brisbane type of bowler, using an old-fashioned full length to get conventional swing at useful pace. But he is still feeling his way back from serious injury. And so is Flintoff, good as he is looking at the moment, and so is Giles. If Fletcher seriously wants to play Giles ahead of Panesar, England are going to have an attack that is three-fifths rusty. That’s a lot of rust to put your trust in.