Cricket: England Given Jones Boost

England have some catching up to do. The Ashes euphoria may be continuing in some quarters but the team were brought down to earth in Pakistan, undone by Shoaib Akhtar's box of tricks, the serene batting of Inzamam-ul-Haq and their own self-confidence.

Michael Vaughan's team should have won the first Test in Multan and, had they done so, would in all probability have gone on to take the series and enhance their standing in the world order. They did not, however, and instead of spending the second part of the winter attempting to close further on Australia they will need to beat India in the forthcoming three-Test series just to regain their place as the second strongest side around.

As with every visit to the subcontinent it is a tall order but they will go next month with the lessons of Pakistan learned - matters mostly of discipline - and, as important, the return to fitness of Vaughan, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones, all of whom have had post-Ashes surgery on variously knee, hip and ankle. While none has yet approached anything like match fitness, rehabilitation is progressing well. Jones is the most advanced and all three will be named today when the tour squad is announced.

It means that for the first two Test matches, in Nagpur and Mohali, Vaughan can field the side that went most of the way in reclaiming the Ashes. Not until the final Test at The Oval, when Jones was missing through injury, was his importance fully realised. Without his skiddy reverse-swing the attack looked devoid of options: they missed him badly in Pakistan, where he promised to be the most successful bowler.

They should find help in Nagpur, where the Australians thrived on a green top on their last visit, albeit at a different time of year before the temperature began to rise and the character of pitches changes, and in Mohali, a suburb of Chandigarh and hard on the Himalayan foothills, where even in March conditions will remain cool and encourage the sort of orthodox swing bowling employed by Matthew Hoggard.

It is in deciding on the back-up boys that the England selectors would have been scratching their heads yesterday. Given the opportunity in Pakistan, Durham's 20-year-old Liam Plunkett gave a decent account of himself on his Test debut and excelled in the one-day series, demonstrating an admirable temperament, a simple effective method with the ball and natural skill with the bat. Already he has created a spot as first reserve.

Yet Mohali, not to mention Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, where Ian Botham took five or more wickets in an innings on three out of four occasions he bowled there, could suit James Anderson, who shows signs of returning to something approaching the ebullience he had when he burst on to the scene three years ago. There could be a case for taking Plunkett and Anderson and not attempting to prejudge the conditions. It is worth remembering, too, that Andrew Flintoff seems likely to return home during the final Test for the birth of his second child.

However, if the first two Tests might help the pacemen, Mumbai, where the humidity can encourage swing, is also home to some of the most underprepared pitches around, on which the spin of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble can rule the roost. So England, reluctantly, might well have to consider playing two spinners, as they did in Pakistan, and as things stand it is hard to see them going beyond Giles and Shaun Udal, despite their paltry returns on tour before Christmas.

If two spinners is a genuine strategy, though, the subcontinent demands cover as well. In Pakistan Alex Loudon was the preferred option but it seems as if he might be more suited to the limited-overs game. Moreover, despite good reports from the Indian spin academy in Mumbai where he went after the Test leg of the tour, he does seem to have the sort of problem with his action that has afflicted South Africa's Johan Botha, who was reported by the umpires and match referee after the recent series against Australia. In particular this applies to Loudon's doosra, which is now a fundamental part of the off-spinner's armoury, so England really need to nip this problem in the bud before they can take him any further.

However, the best young spinner in England is Northamptonshire's Monty Panesar, though not the most quotable if yesterday's excruciating radio interview with Garry Richardson is anything to go by. He first impressed when bowling to the England side in the Adelaide nets during the last Ashes tour. Whether Duncan Fletcher can accept a bowler who is extremely talented but essentially one- dimensional is a moot point, although he has embarked on improving his batting and fielding by returning to Adelaide and listening to Darren Lehmann.

Would Phil Tufnell, for example, get a game these days, though? One view is that there is such a paucity of quality spin coming through the ranks that England can ill afford not to encourage such ability. And, if he failed to bowl a ball in anger on what is a condensed tour, then he could only benefit from spending three Test matches watching Harbhajan weave his spells.