Wednesday, December 19, 2001 England should go all out to win the Bangalore Test. There is little difference in my mind between losing 1-0 or 2-0 —the chance of squaring the series is more important. England's players should carry this thought with them throughout the Test. They are on an upward curve. They played better in the second Test, and day one at Bangalore has offered them some hope.

But England's main handicap is the bowling. This is what stopped them winning in Ahmedabad and could well be the stumbling block again. It is difficult to see how these bowlers can take 20 Indian wickets, unless the Indians start making unforced errors. The best way to bring that about is for England to post a first-innings total of 400—they certainly need to make 350. With the bowlers at their disposal and the batting strength that they are confronting, scores of between 200 and 300 are not enough.

The first innings is crucial for England. They have to get a lead and exert pressure on the Indians. That is their only hope and it is a slim one. As a general rule, bowlers win Test matches and batsmen save them. Coming to India with an unproven bowling attack of doubtful quality was a mistake. Some of this was unavoidable because of players withdrawing but English cricket needs to ask itself two questions.

Firstly, why are the selectors so poor at spotting high-class bowlers? The turnover is too high. What should really be happening is that the selectors should have a good enough cricketing eye to identify players with real potential. They are the ones that England should stick with. Not just for a couple of Tests, but for a couple of years. Some of the players that are big in Asia would have been thrown out by the English system and never had chance to become great.

The second issue is about the ability of English spinners. Warne and Murali are a success because they are big spinners of the ball and they have variety. Saqlain and Harbhajan are in the same mould. And these countries have other spinners who may not be of the same quality but do have potential. England, on the other hand, keep producing spinners who turn the ball slightly and do not have much variety. This is a serious handicap to England, especially when they come to a place like India. Richard Dawson perfectly highlights this problem, although it is his first tour and will be great learning experience.

The Bangalore wicket is usually a good one. It does take turn, and although this increases every day, the wicket also gets slower and lower. This is not a track that ideally suits wrist-spinners: finger-spinners do better, as in general do bowlers like Anil Kumble, who push the ball through. England will have to attack to win, and that begins with taking a first-innings lead.

Javed Miandad, Pakistan's greatest runmaker and latterly their coach, was talking to Kamran Abbasi.

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