Tudor: We have to play better

Paceman Alex Tudor enjoyed early success for England

Former England all-rounder Alex Tudor knows England will have to be on top of their game when they embark on the second leg of their winter programme with a trip to India, starting in February.

The tourists are set to play three Test matches and seven one-day internationals and will once again be tested on the subcontinent by world-class spin bowlers.

Pakistan took the pre-Christmas Test series 2-0, but England were well-placed in the crucial first Test in Multan before letting the result get away from them as Tudor's Essex teammate Danish Kaneria claimed 4-62 during the last innings of the match, to hasten England's 22-run demise.

“We will have to play better than we did in Pakistan because the Indian spinners, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, at home are very dangerous and their records prove that,“ Tudor told ecb.co.uk.

Harbhajan Singh, the India spinner, is a danger to England

“The Indian spinners also use the rough created by their left-arm seamers like Irfan Pathan, so we are going to have to play the spinners well.

“Even though we played them (the Pakistan spinners) better as the series went on, Danish (Kaneria) proved that he can run through a side but I am sure the boys are planning well at Loughborough (ECB National Academy) to combat that.

“Pakistan had just come back from a good tour of the West Indies and they have always had match winners, even as far back as the eighties, and it was just a matter of making them gel.

“Under captain Inzi (Inzamam-ul-Haq) and Bob Woolmer, a coach who had no background in their culture, they have instilled a great team ethic and they are now a dangerous, dangerous side and on their day they are a match for anybody.”

Tudor was a member of England’s 2000 squad that won a series in Pakistan for the first time since 1961-62. He recognised how demanding the 2005 tour would be and remembers England’s dramatic last Test win in the gloom of Karachi over five years ago.

“I was under no illusions before they left, it was going to be a very difficult trip for the boys as I found out in 2000 when Graham Thorpe hit the winning runs in darkness with Nasser Hussain alongside him,“ he added.

Fast bowler Simon Jones returns to the England squad for the India tour after ankle surgery, and this will come as a massive boost to the side after his heroics during the 2005 Ashes series - when he took 18 wickets but missed out on the last Test at the Brit Oval.

The return of Simon Jones is crucial © Getty Images

Tudor continued: “There were a few areas which let us down in Pakistan. The batters, apart for (Ian) Bell and (Marcus) Trescothick, did not really fire and the loss of Simon Jones was crucial. Him being fit will be a big bonus when they go to India, but it is the spinning option that is difficult.”

England have left a final place in their Test squad vacant for an extra spinner and one of the candidates for the spot is left-armer Monty Panesar.

Tudor has first-hand knowledge of the Northamptonshire player from his time at the National Academy in Adelaide.

“I went to the National Academy with him and he does work hard, I will give him that. We had days off and he would go and bowl in the nets for hours and hours,” he said.

“He works hard to try and do something different with the ball as they have to now in the world game.

“He knew he had to brush up on his batting and fielding - which were not his strongest points.

“There are not too many spin bowlers who do anything different with the ball, I know Alex Loudon can bowl a ‘doosra’ but spinners these days have to have a bit of mystery to them.

“It is up to people like Ian Blackwell, Graeme Swann, Gareth Batty and Richard Dawson to put up their hands and work hard to get themselves into the selection picture. Off spinners need to do something different.”

Tudor is hoping the wickets will be a bit more sporting and the bat will not be as dominant over the ball in India, but he is wary of the threat of India's batting line-up that includes the prolific Sachin Tendulkar.

“Hopefully the wickets in India will not be as flat as the ones in Pakistan and you would have to say that India’s batting line-up is stronger than Pakistan’s at the moment,“ he concluded.