 Simon Jones and Liam Plunkett relax in the hotel pool |
England coach Duncan Fletcher hopes Simon Jones can inspire England to success in the Test matches in India. The squad arrived in the country on Monday and England were quick to be positive about their bowling options, despite worries over the spinners.
Fletcher said of Glamorgan paceman Jones, fit after missing the Pakistan tour: "You have got to assume his absence was very important for us."
Jones is fresh and raring to go after recovering from ankle surgery.
He was a vital part of the Test team last summer, when he took 18 wickets in four matches against Australia.
Dozens of Indian reporters and TV crews had been left disappointed as interview requests at Mumbai (Bombay) airport were declined.
But later Fletcher and captain Michael Vaughan gave a news conference from the team's hotel in the city.
 |  The balls here will help the seamers to some degree |
Fletcher said: "In Pakistan - and you have to think to some degree here in India will be the same - skiddy bowlers are effective.
"These wickets tend to favour skiddy bowlers some of the time and Jones' strength is he bowls quickly, skids the ball and gets swing.
"We believe he will be effective on these surfaces so you have to say he was a loss in Pakistan as well."
Jones flew to India early with bowling coach Troy Cooley to acclimatise and has been bowling with the the SG balls used solely in India at Test level.
Fletcher said: "From listening to Simon Jones he got it to swing conventionally from when it was new and when he roughed some balls up he got it to reverse swing.
"At least the balls here will help the seamers to some degree."
 Photographers jostle for space behind England's Geraint Jones |
Vaughan refused to be drawn on what tactics would be employed in the spin department.
However, in the absence of the injured Ashley Giles, England are unlikely to use two specialist spinners out of Shaun Udal, Ian Blackwell and Monty Panesar.
"We will wait on the conditions, how our bowlers are bowling and how they are playing but we are not set in stone on one particular tactic," said Vaughan.
"We do think we might play on some spinner-friendly pitches, especially because of our attack.
"We will just have to come up with our best formula to get 20 wickets to put India under pressure."
The first Test of three is in Nagpur on 1 March, while seven one-day internationals will follow.
Premier all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, meanwhile, could miss a match to be with his wife for the birth of his second child.
But he was soon in the hotel swimming-pool with the rest of his team-mates after the players had checked into their rooms.
MMIX
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