England will accept the inevitability of India tomorrow and choose a specialist spin bowler for the first time as they seek to recover from 2-0 down in the seven-match one-day international series. And if the selection of Graeme Swann, the Nottinghamshire off-spinner and one-day specialist, does not reverse two heavy defeats, then expect serious consideration of a call-up for Monty Panesar by the time England reach Bangalore.The belated realisation that England cannot prosper in India without a specialist spin bowler begs the question about what is actually taught on the History GCSE syllabus. And if history makes no impact, then you might wish to consider current affairs instead: in the last Test played in Kanpur, against South Africa in April, India prepared the pitch to favour spin, then saw their spinners take 14 wickets in the match. Harbhajan Singh even took the new ball in the second innings.
Panesar, who flies out to India this week with the England Performance Squad, purportedly to prepare for the Test series, is England's finest spinner for a generation yet has been overlooked for the one-day squad in the belief that he should be regarded as a Test specialist. The irony is that he has been sounded out to play Twenty20 in the Indian Premier League.
The usual reluctance remains to draft in Panesar and admit that the initial squad was misconceived but, if England with Swann do not show dramatic signs of improvement at Green Park, then Monty will be on hand in Bangalore. As England bat deep anyway, with the increasingly impressive Stuart Broad as low as No9, it begs the question why Swann's extra batting ability compared with Panesar's mastery of the No1 spot matters anyway.
England refused to confirm the possibility of a call-up for Panesar yesterday. India - in an opinion voiced by Yuvraj Singh and privately shared by his teammates - are perplexed by his absence. Plans to prepare Panesar for the Test series with one-to-one coaching sessions with a new spin-bowling coach, Mushtaq Ahmed, have foundered because Mushtaq has yet to gain a work permit, so the logic is taking hold that he might as well join the England one-day party anyway.
England's other concern surrounds their opening batsman. Matt Prior's selection at the top of the order has so far failed to provide the dynamism expected. Ian Bell's one-day reputation is diminishing; Kent's Joe Denly should have been selected but Alastair Cook is here as back-up opener instead. India's opening batsmen have set the bar so high that Cook's orthodoxy seems increasingly outdated in the one-day game. There is even talk of experimenting with Luke Wright.
England have potentially the best 7-8-9 in the world in Samit Patel, Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad, yet in Indore - admittedly facing a highly improbable target - they came in to bat with the match already lost. Coaches talk endlessly these days about the need for players who can finish a game. But it is not a finisher that England need; it is a starter.
As England's thoughts turned to spin, coincidentally they all but abandoned hope of their left-arm seam bowler Ryan Sidebottom featuring in Kanpur when he was sent for a scan on his lower back following the team's arrival. England's itinerary - long on travel every third day - is more exhausting than most realise and Sidebottom's body, it seems, cannot cope. He has been dogged by persistent injuries and it is no surprise to learn that his back is playing up again. His brief England career has been a tribute both to his own persistence and skill and to the values of county cricket but there is a sense that England are not being altogether straightforward about his ailments.
England have rejected a request from the Indian board to delay the start of the Ahmedabad Test by a day because the final of the inaugural Champions League - which might involve the India captain, Mahdendra Singh Dhoni - ends the previous evening. The ECB, aware that hundreds of England supporters had already made travel arrangements, resisted the change and Sean Morris, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers Association, praised the ECB's efforts to "preserve the sanctity of Test cricket".
Slow alternatives
James Tredwell Kent, Age 26
This off-spinning all-rounder who is also a fine slip fielder, has fallen from favour this year but was a member of the performance squad in 2007 and was brought into the full England squad in New Zealand last winter
Adil Rashid Yorkshire, 20
The most successful England-qualified spinner last summer with 65 first-class wickets. He can bat too. But this leg-spinner is only 20 and is thought not to be ready yet
Gareth Batty Worcestershire, 31
Test ave 66.63. ODI ave 73.50
Played in seven Tests and seven ODIs but perhaps England discarded this combative all-rounder too soon.
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