Mustard needs hot streak

Phil Mustard adds impetus at the top of the batting order

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Phil Mustard is likely to be given an extended chance to establish himself as England’s pinch-hitting wicketkeeper despite his failure to deliver a major innings in his short international career.

The 25-year-old Durham wicketkeeper broke into the one-day side this winter after Matt Prior broke a finger during the ICC World Twenty20 and has retained his place for eight successive one-day internationals.

He has looked comfortable behind the stumps and provides the early impetus for England with the aggressive style of strokeplay which played a key role in securing Durham’s maiden Friends Provident Trophy success last summer.

The one thing he has failed to deliver so far is a big individual innings, with his top score being the 31 he hit in the opening game of the five-match series against New Zealand in Wellington just over a week ago.

But Mustard, known as Colonel after the character in the Cluedo board game, retains the support of captain Paul Collingwood, who remains confident his county colleague is on the verge of playing a significant innings and forging a major opening stand with Alastair Cook.

“I think the Colonel is one innings away,” stressed Collingwood. “He’s certainly shown there is potential there and we know Alastair Cook can score hundreds - he’s done it early on in his England career already and he’s very much the rock at the top of the order for us.

“The Colonel hasn’t scored a big one for us yet, but he’s an aggressive player and that’s how we want him to go out and play. He’s going to get low scores along the way and he just needs just one big score for himself.”

Since the loss of Marcus Trescothick from England’s one-day side, England have struggled to unearth an opener capable of exploiting the fielding restrictions during the early overs in a similar manner to New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Australia’s Adam Gilchrist.

Marcus Trescothick is missed by England © Getty Images

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Mal Loye and Prior have attempted to fill the role in recent times with limited success and now Mustard, who averages just 17.88 in one-day international cricket, is also under pressure to perform more consistently.

For now, though, Collingwood remains loyal to him, insisting: “I think you have to give those sort of players a good run.

“They’re exciting when they come off and everyone talks about them having a great future and they can win you games, but when they don’t come off you can get carried away and think they’re not doing it. You’ve got to give them a good go and he’s got huge potential to do well.”

While the opening partnership may not be firing, Collingwood is more than happy how the top and middle order completed a convincing victory in Auckland last Friday to keep England in the series after heavy defeats in the opening two matches.

England now face a familiar scenario if they are to build on successive series wins against India and Sri Lanka and complete a notable hat-trick with victory over New Zealand.

Nearly 12 months after shrugging off a miserable campaign in Australia to win four successive games and complete an unlikely Commonwealth Bank Series triumph, Collingwood believes the current situation is not dissimilar.

“We were going into every game as if it was a final this time last year, but we were a hell of a lot lower then than we are now,” he explained.

“We were really in the depths then but we managed to drag it around. We’ve had a couple of disappointing games here but the way we bounced back in the last game, there are similarities there.

“We know what we’ve got to do - we’ve got two finals here and it would be a great turnaround if we can do it. We all realise that if we play our best cricket like we did against Sri Lanka and India we can beat any side on their day.

“But hopefully those defeats will make us a stronger side in the long run. It’s not about the next game, it’s about making us a better side for the future and learning from those type of defeats.”

England are expected to name an unchanged line-up for Wednesday’s fourth match in the series at McLean Park and if they taste victory again they will have succeeded in setting up a series decider at Christchurch on Saturday.