Just when they had finally discovered how to beat India, England reverted to type today with an honourable defeat. In the field, England were as gritty and plucky as they were sweaty - and that was saying a lot on a steaming night in the city formerly known as Madras. But hard as they pushed the Indian line-up, or at least its mortal members, they still didn't deserve to win. They allowed four bad habits to creep back into their game. The first is woolly selection. If this was the best XI in England's squad of 15, then I'm one of the bananas Jeremy Snape was munching between his fine allround efforts. Graham Thorpe is England's best one-day batsman, irrespective of how well his understudies may be doing. Andy Caddick is a matchwinning bowler who would have relished the bounce today. To leave them out is to play into India's hands, and to slip back into the short-memory syndrome that Nasser Hussain has tried to get away from.

The second bad habit is collapsing. England's middle-order disintegration looked a little less bad once India had done their best to emulate it, but England's was worse. It came earlier, when the ball was firmer and whiter, and it set the tone. Hussain, back in the city where he spent his first five years and with his father watching proudly, played the kind of shot small boys usually play when Mum and Dad turn up. Andy Flintoff continued to bat like a specialist bowler. With Harbhajan blossoming under Kumble's sympathetic captaincy, England badly missed Thorpe.

Habit No. 3 was the tailenders leaving their brains in the dressing-room. On this hard-to-read pitch, 230 might have been enough. Snape and Ben Hollioake put that within reach with their sensible salvage operation: either Snape's personality is highly infectious, or Hollioake is finally maturing. But Gough's slogging and Hoggard's running ensured that England didn't get there.

The fourth habit is not having slip fielders in one-day cricket. Virender Sehwag is always a candidate for an edge but when he duly nicked the ever-accurate Flintoff, the chance sailed through an unmanned cordon. Kumble had not made the same mistake when Paul Collingwood was facing Harbhajan. It is nearly always worth having a slip, all the more so with the new bouncer rule.

England have also fallen into one new bad habit: allowing an opposing opener to get off to a flier. Here, his name is Sachin, so nearly all can be forgiven. But the Australians were doing it in the Ashes. Gough's opening spell is getting targeted and carted too often. A master with the old ball, he bounced back later with 1 for 24 in seven overs. England should try using him as a change bowler, Allan Donald style.

The good news was that Michael Vaughan was cool and stylish for the second game in a row, Hoggard took wickets with the old ball (and it was very old), Marcus Trescothick may now be in even better form than at Calcutta, and England have found another bowler who can get Tendulkar out. It was widely thought that this could only be done with a jaffa, but Snape managed it with a lollipop. His place on the after-dinner speaking circuit is now assured.

Tim de Lisle is editor of Wisden.com.

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