Wednesday, November 21, 2001 There are some worrying whispers coming out of India at the moment. Apparently England want to play two spinners in the Tests, which means choosing between Ashley Giles (half-fit), Martyn Ball (half-baked) and Richard Dawson (virtually unknown). As someone who prides himself on his pragmatism, Duncan Fletcher should know better.

England are in danger of believing one of cricket's most creaking pieces of mythology: you can only win in India with spin. Recent history alone begs to differ. Since Imran Khan's Pakistan squeezed home by 16 runs in the decisive fifth Test at Bangalore in 1986-87, only one side has won a series in India. That was South Africa in 1999-2000, when spin claimed just seven of India's 40 wickets (and Hansie Cronje was still a story waiting to explode).

Seam and swing were the weapons - and they had been used in India before. In 1976-77, England's captain Tony Greig had a plan. "It was clear to me that we were never going to beat India with spinners," says Greig, "despite the fact that Derek Underwood was one of the best and that the wickets would all be turners. Indians just play spinners too well so we decided to use Underwood as our stock bowler who would always pick up a few wickets but give very little away, and then really have a go down at the other end with the quicks." Underwood actually picked up more than a few wickets in that series (29), but without the left-arm swing of John Lever (26, including a matchwinning 10 for 70 on Test debut at Delhi), the pace of Bob Willis (20), and the stealth of Chris Old (10), England would not have won 3-1.

Seven years later, England did it again. Their leading bowler? A 22-year-old seamer with six Tests and 12 wickets to his name. Neil Foster was drafted in for the fourth game at Madras, took 11 for 163 and finished top of the averages with 14 victims at 20. Yes, there were wickets for the spinners (Phil Edmonds finished with 14 at nearly 42, Pat Pocock 13 at 50), but tearaway Norman Cowans took 14 too, and even Richard Ellison, that honest swing bowler, played his part in the second-Test win at Delhi with first-innings figures of 26-6-66-4.

The message is that spin must only play a role if the spinners are confident of their lines: Underwood was an alltime great; Edmonds remains England's best spinner since Underwood; and even Pocock was a class above Giles, Dawson and Ball.

Apart from the fact that Sachin and chums would eat these three for breakfast, two spinners would seriously upset the balance of a side that has already been rocked by Craig White's latest bout of low self-esteem. If one of White and Andy Flintoff plays, neither can be asked to open the bowling: White because he doesn't feel he's up to it; Flintoff because he knows he isn't. This means either Richard Johnson or Jimmy Ormond will have to accompany Matthew Hoggard with the new ball. So if England do play a second spinner, White/Flintoff will be forced to bat at No. 6 in these post-Alec Stewart days, which in turn means no place for Michael Vaughan. England would then be sacrificing their only strength - a solid batting line-up of Trescothick, Butcher, Hussain, Thorpe, Ramprakash and Vaughan - to accommodate one of their several weaknesses.

England must do what India would least like them to. That means a proper top six, White at No. 7 with a licence to disrupt the spinners, and James Foster at No. 8. The bowling attack would then be Hoggard, Johnson/Ormond, White (forget 90pmh: offcutters work in India too), Giles (if fit), plus some fill-in fare from any of Trescothick, Butcher, Ramprakash and Vaughan to keep the quicks fresh.

Two spinners would mean England fielding their longest tail since Steve Rhodes went in at No. 6 at Adelaide in 1994-95. It would be a triumph for woolly thinking - a nail in England's boffins. There's still time to see sense.

My XI: 1 Trescothick, 2 Butcher, 3 Hussain (capt), 4 Thorpe, 5 Ramprakash, 6 Vaughan, 7 White, 8 Foster (wk), 9 Giles/Dawson, 10 Johnson/Ormond, 11 Hoggard

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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