England need old faces to return

If Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard - Steve Harmison even - were important to England before the 1-0 series reverse against India, then they became crucial in the aftermath. England badly missed the three bowlers as they were forced to go in with an inexperienced attack against one of the most celebrated batting line-ups of all time. James Anderson, who took 14 wickets but still lacked control, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Tremlett were unable to make the new ball swing as much as their Indian counterparts. It is a damning indictment considering the conditions that the tourists have grown up in are completely alien to ones found in the UK. Flintoff and Hoggard should regain their places immediately for the first Test against Sri Lanka in December and Harmison probably will too. The Durham man is bowling again after a hernia problem and rarely has a bowler's stock risen by sitting on the sidelines injured. Even if he is wayward, England need someone to come on and fire down the occasional 90mph bullet. Without him they don't have that. So when they take on Sri Lanka, hopefully with their first-choice trio back, it will probably be best to forget all about the India series given few of the men charged with taking 20 wickets will be playing. The pace of Harmison and Flintoff and the control of Hoggard on unresponsive wickets give them a decent chance on the sub-continent. Unfortunately there are concerns about the batting. Andrew Strauss' place must in doubt and with no obvious replacement, England may have to consider moving Michael Vaughan or Ian Bell up to open the batting and slotting Ravi Bopara in lower down. Certainly when considering a wager on England in the winter it is more pertinent to look at what the batsmen, who failed against India, may do against a similar Sri Lanka bowling attack. But if the same bowlers are used, then it might just be time to have a hefty sum on the hosts.