Shenley is regarded as the finest batting strip on the women's circuit, but opening batsman Caroline Atkins said the team was confident they could bowl India out twice on it.

The squad convened at Lord's on Tuesday and were due to travel up to the picturesque Hertfordshire ground on Wednesday morning to practice.

Atkins told BBC Sport Online: "We must be pretty confident of getting 20 Test wickets because we have seen how fragile they can be with their batting.

"We will be looking to get them out twice and hopefully only bat once ourselves."

The last time Atkins played Test cricket she made 90 in a spectacular stand of 200 with Arran Thompson, a world record opening partnership in women's Test cricket.

That drawn Test, a one-off affair in Lucknow, India, in January came in the middle of a one-day series which the home side won 5-0.

But England thrashed India in Jersey in the triangular one-day series in July after bowling them out for 59 - the other match between the two sides was rained off.

Atkins, a Test specialist, added: "I love batting in Test matches because you've got so much time to bat.

"Personally, though, I would rather be a one-day player and a Test player. I certainly need to be more aggressive and assert myself earlier on in my innings."

Guha prospect

England may give a Test debut to the 17-year-old bowler Isa Guha, who performed well in the one-day tournament.

Guha has never played any form of cricket other than one-day matches.

She said: "To start off I will be bowling line and length, but I will be looking to bowl different sort of balls to different batsmen.

"I bowl inswing better than outswing and I usually get the same movement when the ball gets softer."

Atkins said the key Indian batsmen were the young right-handed number three Mithali Raj and the aggressive left-hander, captain Anjum Chopra.

She added: "After that, we feel they have quite a long tail. That's why we're confident we can get them out twice."