Moores needs a one-day wonder

When the West Indies wrapped up a 2-1 NatWest Series triumph with a 93-run victory at Trent Bridge on Saturday, the man who succeeded Duncan Fletcher was left to grapple with two stark conclusions.

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1) There is a yawning gulf between England's capabilities in Test cricket and the one-day game. 2) While they can get by without Andrew Flintoff and Marcus Trescothick in the former, they cannot in the latter.

Moores would have been painfully aware of these fundamental issues before the three matches which saw his players throw away a 1-0 lead.

The 44-year-old coach is determined to promote oneday skills around the counties as well as at elite level but he urgently needs those two experienced campaigners back. Trescothick may be included in a provisional 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup to be announced in the next 48 hours.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney was due to speak to the 31-year-old Somerset lefthander to see if he is available for the tournament in South Africa in September. Trescothick's international career has been on hold while he recovers from a stress-related illness and his absence from the oneday batting order left a void which England failed to fill.

Trescothick has the nous that comes with a tally of 123 ODI caps and the rare ability to open the innings with a torrent of runs against top- class attacks. As a player capable of setting a positive tone, he is without equal in this country.

Try as they might, Alastair Cook and Matt Prior have been unable to provide similar fireworks during the power-plays.

Flintoff is continuing his recovery from another ankle operation, with a view to possibly playing in the one-day series against India. Without the Lancashire all-rounder's power in the closing stages of an innings, England have been unable to accelerate towards imposing totals or targets.

With Kevin Pietersen temporarily becalmed — culminating in a two-ball duck on Saturday — Moores' men lack the clout to pepper the boundaries.

The coach evidently does not feel there are many batsmen lurking in the shires who can provide pyrotechnics, as he said: "If there are obvious people who are blitzing county cricket all the time, then they will get a chance to play."

There's no sign of them yet. Flintoff 's absence has left England's lower middle order horribly exposed. With Prior opening, they have had to rely on Michael Yardy, Dimitri Mascarenhas or Liam Plunkett at seven and eight and they have only mustered one doublefigure score between them.

Reason to be cheerful: The West Indian side celebrate a deserved victory

If the batting has lacked punch, so has the bowling. The inability to take wickets in the middle of the innings left the West Indies with several big guns primed to fire at the death. On Saturday, the tourists amassed 116 in the final 10 overs, 14 more than in the same period at Edgbaston three days earlier. Captain Chris Gayle's restrained 82 was matched by the swashbuckling Runako Morton.

With Dwayne Bravo's bold cameo helping to drive the West Indies up towards 300, the mountain was too steep for England to climb. Although Plunkett had Shivnarine Chanderpaul caught in the deep for just 33, the visitors had wickets and power to spare and inexperienced home bowlers could not stem the tide.

Gayle's team could call on the fast and furious Daren Powell, four for 40, and Fidel Edwards, three for 30, to puncture England's progress. They have cottoned on to the view that attack is the best form of defence.

Powell removed Prior, Cook and Pietersen in a menacing opening spell and England do not yet possess the composure or belief to rally from 33 for three. Although Owais Shah maintained his fine form with a defiant half-century the writing was already on the wall.

It all ended with Gayle employing up to seven slips as a symbol of the West Indies' revival. In this distilled form of cricket their natural skills are not in question and finally they displayed the unity and spirit needed to complement them.

England remain seventh in the ICC's one-day world league — one place above their conquerors but with the gap down to just one point. On this evidence they are behind West Indies as well as every other senior cricketing nation. Moores and his men still have plenty to learn.

YORKSHIRE'S young leg-spinner Adil Rashid can stake a claim for a place on England's tour to Sri Lanka this winter after being included in the Lions team to play India at Chelmsford over three days from Friday. c.foy@dailymail.co.uk