Never too old for many a happy return

First Test: White and Crawley prove there is no bar to drinking at the second-chance saloon

When Craig White finally earned the selectorial nod at Lord's he rejoined an eternal band of England cricketers. The Comeback Kids are a formidable regiment, and this summer has already yielded a bunch of new recruits.

White had been there once before and had all but given up hope of going there again. He was as surprised as anybody when the call came a week ago. "I thought early this summer that maybe it was all over," he said. But presumably it's never over until the chairman of selectors deletes your number from his mobile.

Nothing stirs the sporting soul more than the comeback, except perhaps the new tearaway fast bowler putting the frighteners on the opposition, which is not nearly as frequent an occurrence. And if the spotlight has kept moving inexorably towards Simon Jones these past few days it has never quite been able to tear itself away from White or John Crawley.

It is one of the main reasons that the England cricket team is such compulsive viewing: he has failed before, will he fail again? Chalky did not fail. Nor did Crawley, who while not quite coming back at Lord's this time since he had already done so there as recently as May, had faded again from the consciousness. They both made half-centuries of singular importance. Crawley actually made two.

His first, in partnership with Nasser Hussain, helped to propel England to a position of strength after an indifferent start and his second yesterday helped to make them unassailable. White's innings ensured that England's recovery was not squandered; he conducted the wag of the tail. Then he claimed the scalp of Sachin Tendulkar, denying the great man a Lord's Test century once more. For White the wheel had turned again.

As they were presenting their credentials, two questions recurred. The first was: who could the selectors recall next? The second was: would it matter a tuppeny hoot when the Ashes are up for grabs later in the year? It was hard to be positive with any of the answers. Though before being too derisory we should remember that the Aussies themselves go in for recalls these days, as Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn demonstrate.

White, Crawley, Dominic Cork and, to the one-day team, Ronnie Irani, have all been summoned again by England this summer. Of the side who are engaged in struggle with India at Lord's in the First Test, the majority have been forced to claw their way back into contention after suffering selectorial slight. If it demonstrates a kind of loyalty it also indicates that you are never forgotten.

Maybe in a perverse way it makes better players of them, makes them appreciate more what they were missing. From the captain down, in this team they have had a taste of what it is like and been made to do without.

Nasser Hussain, who scored as mature and resolute a century as you could wish to see on Thursday, played first for England in early 1990 but then was omitted until 1993. He did not last long and had to run a newspaper campaign saying how desperate he was to be recalled to try to ensure the selectors remembered his name. In June 1996, when he was 28, they did – and look what happened.

Mark Butcher was out of the team from January 2000 to June 2001, a short gap but one which looked as if it would stretch to eternity before injuries and a tendency for selectors to favour what they know brought his recall. Butcher has made the most of his second chance, though he is taking nothing for granted. Perhaps worried he might be slipping out of the zone, he has just asked the team analyst for a CD of his best innings, just to remind himself of how good he can be.

Crawley was left out from 1999 until this summer. White was first recalled in South Africa a couple of winters ago when injury again forced hands, but the diminution of his bowling during the winter looked to have done for him this time. Instead, he has resurrected his career.

As for Alec Stewart, he was finished in 1996 and again in the winter. He was 38 then when Hussain said in Calcutta: "James Foster is our wicketkeeper now." Foster got injured again last week having already broken an arm to allow Stewart back. The question on everybody's lips now is not when Stewart, now 39, might quietly retire but whether Foster will ever play for England again.

White's presence in the line-up is perhaps the most fascinating. He is an estimable cricketer who was unfairly disparaged in his first coming. Selected by Raymond Illingworth, whose reputation has received something of a battering but whose great knowledge should never be questioned, he was labelled teacher's pet. It hurt. If it still rankles, he has overcome it. White is his own man now, but there is still the feeling that he needs to feel sure of himself in mind and body before he can give of his best. Part, probably most, of the reason he might not have been expected to come again was Andrew Flintoff.

England have three all-rounders in their side in the present Test match: Stewart as the keeper-batsman; Flintoff and White of the traditional kind. The latter have both scored runs and taken key wickets. It could, just could, take the England team in a different direction again.

Their coach, Duncan Fletcher, has been a long-time proponent of all-rounders in one-day cricket, and it is not difficult to discern that he will recognise their value in all forms of the game. Fletcher always makes the point that an all-rounder cannot usually be expected to prosper at both skills at once. Pick enough all-rounders, though, and one can take the wickets and one make the runs. The difference it will make to England's tail is significant. If they can get back their opening bowlers it will also have a huge effect on their change seam attack.

The feeling persists that England could have blooded new players this season (if only to drop them and recall them in a couple of years). But if Chalky White and Freddie Flintoff sustain their form they can lend England a different dimension. Recalls after all might too easily be sniffed at. Always remember another all-rounder. In 1926 England regained the Ashes after picking the great Wilfred Rhodes at the age of 48.