England Cricket / Paul Moon / 04 October 2008 / Leave a comment

Paul Moon reckons the former England captain is sitting out the India tour with next summer in mind. Below, he discusses the winter squad selections and omissions.

The duping England selectors pulled off an amazing sleight of hand on the general public when nominating their 15-man squad for the two-Test series in India this December.

Initially, it looked like they had been tough and dropped Michael Vaughan because of his form. Not true! They have taken him out of the firing line and wrapped him in cotton wool so that he can be repackaged and available for the Ashes Series next year.

By taking Vaughan out of the public eye for eight months (whilst topping up his generous central contract) they will allow him to score some cheap runs in county cricket early next summer. The friendly media machine will then be sent for to acclaim his return to the Test side against our arch-rivals.

Reminders of his past glories will be regurgitated and exaggerated. There will be those who claim that Kevin Pietersen will need Vaughan's help if we are to beat the Aussies, some because of his batting average of 47.95 against them and others because of cerebral powers that Pietersen does not possess.

Had he gone to India and failed, which in his current form was most likely, he would have lost his case for inclusion. The plan was of magnum opus proportions and I salute it for its cunning!

We already know that there is a cosy mutual back-scratching club within the England Test side. I agree with my Betfair colleague Frank Gregan that unbridled nepotism exists within the England set-up. Please note his point about Alistair Cook.

The ECB announced that a total of 12 players were awarded central contracts until the end of the 2009 domestic international season. Apart from Vaughan, Paul Collingwood and Andrew Strauss should not have been granted contracts or been asked to tour India. I would have left Tim Ambrose at home as well.

The sub-continent is conducive to spin and I endorse the inclusion of off-spinner Graeme Swann. The right-arm/left-arm combination with Monty Panesar should prove effective. Because Ryan Sidebottom will play (instead of Anderson) there will be rough for the right-handers and that will suit Swann, probably the key reason why he got the vote over Adil Rashid who had a better season.

Swann is the only uncapped player in the Test squad, which tells us a little about forward planning. Thankfully Matt Prior is back - he should never have left out in the first place. There is no comparison between him and Tim Ambrose when totalling their respective skills! In any case James Foster is the second best wicket-keeper.

I sensed an opportunity was lost prior to and after the New Zealand tour. Now is probably not a good time to blood novices but I certainly would have looked at the intelligent Will Smith of Durham. Strauss needs replacing but I am not sure with whom. Owais Shah for Vaughan and Ravi Bopara for the agonising Collingwood would have been my obvious selections for this Indian tour!

England were originally scheduled to play three Tests and seven ODI's. I am concerned that they will only play two Tests now. I hope this is not the shape of things to come.

With a stunted tour England will be able to attack the aged Indian batsmen early with Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison. That should make for close matches with results. After India's four-Test grudge clash against world champions Australia they might be jaded with an injury or two so it could be an opportune time to play them.

The Betfair market for winning the Test Series is still under-developed but initially England have been priced generously:

India [1.92]

England [4.0]

Draw [2.5].