Ralph Dellor talks to the England captain Nasser Hussain on the eve of England's departure for India 28-56k Ralph Dellor asks Ashley Giles about his rehabilitation after injury and his hopes for India 28-56k Michael Vaughan aims to put his injury problems behind him on his third trip to India 28-56k

After weeks of discussion, deliberation and extended deadlines, fact-finding missions and speculation, the England tour to India has begun. Even the final press conference on English soil prior to departure was thrown into turmoil as the news of the tragic air crash in the United States came through, and that did nothing to settle the nerves of several members of the touring party. Nevertheless, the tour is on and the focus of attention now moves away from security issues and on to cricket.

That was the message that came through from captain Nasser Hussain as he prepared for departure. "We're raring to go. All the talking has been done and everything has been sorted out. We've got a coach and management squad that is going to concentrate on cricket now and it's as simple as that. We're going to talk about cricket and all the talk about non-cricketing things is done and dusted as far as I'm concerned."

That was a view echoed by the coach to whom Hussain referred, Duncan Fletcher. He also acknowledged that this would be a difficult tour for England. "I think any tour to the Sub-continent is difficult. Remember, before we went out to Pakistan we were talking in the same vein. We went out there with a relatively inexperienced side as far as playing in those conditions was concerned and we were pretty successful. We went to Sri Lanka and the same thing. Questions were asked then and hopefully we can answer those same questions in the same way this time."

Hussain acknowledged the fact that this is an inexperienced side, with only five players with 20 Test caps or more. "It is an inexperienced side and therefore nobody should underestimate the challenge we've got ahead of us. Going to India with any side is very difficult. But these players are the ones we are taking and therefore they are the England cricket team. We as coach and captain and they as individuals have to get the most out of their ability. Character, determination and team spirit will be absolutely key this winter. It's going to be the greatest challenge we've ever had as a squad."

The security question will not go away completely, but Fletcher did his best to play it down. "We had security worries in Pakistan with guards around the bus and so forth, and we'll just treat it in the same manner. When the guys get there they'll just talk about cricket. They'll work on their game plan, make sure they focus on what sort of strategy they'll adopt in the games and we'll just think about cricket as much as we can."

For Hussain, of course, this tour will engender strong personal emotions. He was born in Chennai, and his father, Joe, appeared for Madras in the Ranji Trophy, but he refuses to let emotion cloud his characteristically pragmatic approach to the tour. "It's my greatest challenge, both as a player and as a captain. Obviously there are a few family connections, but for me I'm England captain taking a young side away. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to test me as a player because it's a hard place to play, but it's exactly what I need."

He hopes the rest of the team will also take on the challenge and relish it as such. "We're going to really get tested this winter, make no mistake about that. We, as a team, have got to stick together, whether it be in a meeting, at close of play over a beer, we've got to stick together and discuss cricket. Just generally try to work out a game plan for this tour. We've got to work out how we play spin, how we bowl to great players like Tendulkar and Laxman and Ganguly and people like that.

"We've got to build team spirit, stay in games like we did last winter and apply a bit of pressure. If you do all that and it comes down to the nitty-gritty at the end of a Test match, you're in with a fight. That's all we can do. That's when everyone will find out about themselves."

There are only eight days cricket for the England team before the Test action gets under way at Mohali on December 3rd. By 23rd December at Bangalore it will all be over and Hussain, Fletcher and the England team surely will know about themselves by then.

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