MIKE ATHERTON ignored the latest controversy of Ray Illingworth's England reign yesterday and insisted he was concentrating on a "better tomorrow". The England captain, speaking on the eve of the opening OneDay international against India at The Oval, said the Illingworth book row was simply "raking over old bound".

Illingworth's criticism of Devon Malcolm, in a book which is also being published without the blessing of Lord's, has led to the chairman of selectors facing a possible fine from his Test and County Cricket Board masters.

But yesterday, with Illingworth absent from practice and only arriving in London for last night's team dinner, Atherton was intent on looking forward.

He confirmed he had read certain excerpts of Illingworth's book, One Man Committee, in draft form during the winter in South Africa.

But he said. "If I am asked by any disciplinary committee to comment, then I will do so, but I have not read the whole book and to me this is raking over old ground.

"It's come out this week, but I think it is part of last winter and I want everyone to put that to the back of our minds. I want a better tomorrow, if you like.

"Optimism is always there at the start of a season and this one is no different. People are up for it. And I don't think there is any point in dwelling on what has gone on in the recent past.

"Actually I don't think the public can complain too much about our home form in recent years, especially in the Texaco series. It's our away performances which have suffered.

"It is important, though, for us to put in a good performance this week coming off the back of what happened at the end of last winter."

Atherton, however, said he recognised that today's game was but the start of the hoped for brighter future.

He added. "It's all very well talking about what we want to do. We've now got to go out there and perform."

Part of has been to watch new coach David Lloyd's "feel good video".

After practice at The Oval, the 13 man squad saw what Atherton described as 25 minutes of "us doing well and them doing badly".

Lloyd also plans to play a special tape in the England dressing room this morning, a pre-battle tactic he has also employed in his time at Lancashire.

Again, Atherton provided an insight into its content. "I've heard a bit of it the music is what you might call seriously patriotic."

Atherton, though trying to look ahead, did acknowledge that England needed to analyse where they had gone wrong at the World Cup, and in the one day series against South Africa which preceded it.

Only three victories have come in the last 13 one day matches, with two of them against Holland and the United Arab Emirates, and Atherton added. "The 50 over game is now a different game even to when I started out in limited overs internationals.

"Batting is now a three phase affair the first 15 overs, the middle where you need good running. between the wickets and people to keep you ticking along, and then the final 15 over thrash. Scores of 300 are no longer unheard of.

We intend to be flexible with a fluid batting order. Neil Smith may well come in at number three if Alastair Brown is out early on, and the rest of the order could be changed to suit the specific needs of a specific innings. You have to take advantage of the rules and Sri Lanka showed that conclusively at the World Cup."

Surrey opener Brown, one of three uncapped new faces, is relishing his debut on home soil at The Oval. He said I have no nerves whatsoever. I feel very much at home, very relaxed, and my confidence is high at the moment."

Sadly, however, a poor weather forecast might ruin the start to this summer's international programme although there is a reserve day available tomorrow in case of interruptions.

And then, of course, there are also she black clouds hovering over Illingworth for England to contend with as they try to bury last winter's bad memories.