Mark Butcher's long evening spell of 11-7-12-0 at Jaipur today could be the first sign that Nasser Hussain is planning to go to Mohali with a proper top six that includes Michael Vaughan. It may have been influenced by the failures of Andy Flintoff (0) and Craig White (2) earlier in the day, which should persuade Hussain once and for all that England can't afford to compromise their only current strength - the top-order batting - to bulk out the bowling.

But if Butcher can be used as a 10-overs-a-day man, this shouldn't be a problem. In fact, it could allow England to play the team India would least like to see on a Mohali greentop: one with a strong seam attack and a long batting order.

It would require England to make some drastic decisions about their spinners. A half-fit Ashley Giles would be a wasted place, while a fully fit Richard Dawson or Martyn Ball is hardly likely to be much more dangerous against some of the world's best players of spin.

For the first Test of the 1992-93 series at Calcutta, England picked four seamers - Devon Malcolm, Paul Jarvis, Paul Taylor and Chris Lewis - and just one spinner, Ian Salisbury. India's three spinners took 17 wickets between them and England lost by eight wickets. But that was on a slow turner.

Mohali can be as lively as Moreton-in-Marsh, so surely England should go in with a specialist new-ball attack of Matthew Hoggard and Richard Johnson (who yesterday took three wickets in the first eight balls of his England career), with back-up and reverse swing from White (whose second-innings figures in this match so far read 9-3-19-3) and Flintoff. Butcher and Marcus Trescothick could give the main seamers a break, and Vaughan and Mark Ramprakash would both be there to provide a few overs of offspin.

That would leave a powerful bottom five of Flintoff, White, James Foster, Johnson and Hoggard. It's not the most balanced side, but England don't have the luxury of being able to go for balance. They must be practical, and this XI would give them the best chance of leaving Mohali undefeated:

1 Trescothick, 2 Butcher, 3 Hussain (capt), 4 Thorpe, 5 Ramprakash, 6 Vaughan, 7 Flintoff, 8 White, 9 Foster (wk), 10 Johnson, 11 Hoggard.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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