ENGLAND switch their attentions from Test cricket to the one-day arena with coach Duncan Fletcher hoping the next few weeks will enable him to identify a pool of seam bowlers which could be the envy of the world over the next few years.

Injuries to key personnel - like Lancashire's James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff - before the 2-0 Test series whitewash over Bangladesh has given Fletcher an opportunity to assess the talents of untried pair Rikki Clarke and Martin Saggers and have another look at Richard Johnson.

Injuries, retirements and loss of form have forced England to use 10 different specialist seamers since the start of the year as well as three all-rounders and has at least given Fletcher an idea of the talent he has at his disposal.

But what the Zimbabwean-born coach strives for is a consistent bowling line-up which stays injury free and allows him the time to develop them into a unit that can become England's answer to South African trio Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Jacques Kallis or Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie of Australia.

''As long as the guys stay fit there are four or five bowlers we could use, and that's very important with the amount of cricket we have,'' said Fletcher.

''We have had four bowlers for the Test series, with one sitting in the background - which is a similar situation to the Australians who have Andy Bichel always sitting there ready for his chance.

''We want one unit of bowlers. Every time I go back for a break in Cape Town and I look at South Africa they always have the same three bowlers - Pollock, Kallis and Ntini.

''It's the same with Australia; if someone gets an injury in comes Bichel, and when the other guy becomes fit again out he goes again. They have always had Lee, Gillespie and McGrath until now.''

Fletcher believes the next few weeks, during which England face three-match one-day series in Bangladesh and then Sri Lanka, will go a long way towards deciding what his best bowling line-up is likely to be for the remainder of the winter.

Anderson and Flintoff will be keen to impress after withdrawing from the recent Test series - while Johnson, who has taken 15 wickets in only two Test appearances, will be keen to maintain his impressive start to international cricket.

While they hope to take their chance in the coming weeks, Yorkshire seamer Matthew Hoggard heads home with the other Test specialists for a two-week break throughout which they have all been given strict fitness regimes so they are ready for the three-Test series in Sri Lanka which follows.

Hoggard will be teaming up with bowling coach Mike Watkinson during the break, as will Durham fast bowler Steve Harmison - provided a scan he undergoes tomorrow does not reveal that the back problem which forced him to miss the second Test in Chittagong is anything more than muscular.

Fletcher may also have Simon Jones of Glamorgan and Somerset's Andrew Caddick available for next February's tour to the West Indies as they recover from long-term injuries. For now he is forced to work with a talented but young attack who performed well in Bangladesh even if their inexperience showed at times.

''At this stage we have very young and inexperienced bowlers and we are trying to build a group of five or six of them so we can cover all bases,'' Fletcher added.

''They need to know what their roles are and they need to appreciate at this level that batsmen generally know where their off-stump is and they have to make them play all the time.

''We don't want to waste the Kookaburra ball, because for (the first) 20 overs it does things but after that it generally goes flat. When it is swinging you have to make sure the batsmen are playing.''

England did consider retaining all six remaining Test specialists - Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Hoggard, Saggers and Geraint Jones - with the squad so they could continue acclimatisation before the first Test with Sri Lanka in Galle on December 2.

But Fletcher stressed: ''We've had tours before when we have had players hanging around. It's quite difficult to maintain - it's important they go back, have a break and come back really fresh.

''They are only going to be away for 14 days, and I hope that should not make too much of a difference.

''Everything is put in place for them while they are away and everything they have to do is written down. They are professionals and they have got to go away and keep their fitness levels up.''

Fletcher also confirmed England are considering adding a further spinner to their squad for the Sri Lankan Test series but will wait until they hear news of Harmison's condition before they make decisions about the final make-up of the party.