Stick to Cricket: Legends talk England v India on new Betfair and The Overlap show

• Betfair and the Overlap launch new show 'Stick to Cricket'

• Featuring England legends Cook, Vaughan, Tufnell and Lloyd

• They discuss how England can win Test series against India

Betfair and The Overlap have launched a new show, Stick to Cricket, headed up by England legends Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, David 'Bumble' Lloyd and Phil 'Tuffers' Tufnell, with special guests joining them on a weekly basis. 

Ahead of England's first Test in their series against India, which begins on Friday, the four sat down and previewed the match.

Watch Stick to Cricket preview with Betfair

The Stick to Cricket team were frank in their assessments of both teams. Here are some of the highlight as Cook, Vaughan, Tufnell and Lloyd discussed some of the hot topics ahead of England's first Test against India.

Sir Alastair Cook on Ollie Pope over Jacob Bethell at number three

"Ollie Pope's 170 against Zimbabwe meant a lot to me, him and Zak Crawley were under the pump and they delivered.

"Will Pope play at number three in Perth next winter? He's in possession at the minute and we'll find out if he's good enough against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah this summer. 

"The issue I've always said about Pope, and I don't think this changes, is his first 20 balls, Tuffers is more likely to get through his first 20 balls. 

"Lots of judges of players have said that Jacob Bethell is really good, but at Warwickshire he has struggled."

Sir Alastair Cook on on how England can get the better of India 

"I think the first two hours are going to be quite crucial against this India side... What I can't work out, and we'll find out obviously, is [the impact of] taking those two really experienced players out, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who have been a little bit on the downslide.

"One thing we know [is that] they're going to be so talented, they could pick 18 batsmen of almost the same quality and it'd be really interesting to see whether that talent, without [Sharma and Kohli] there now flies. They might think: 'I can actually express myself, we can bat how we want to bat... We want to take on England a bit more, we want to be more aggressive, this is what suits us.' 

"That's why I think the crucial thing in England, in this first game at Headingley, is that England just don't allow that India talent to show. 

"England bowlers should hit the top of off stump more times, suppress the Indian batting talent to start with. It's crucial because in England, in a long five Test match series, it's so hard to stop the rot. 

"So, if England can create that rot among the inexperienced India players, I think that's how England can win." 

Michael Vaughan on England's best approach to playing India

"In the last three series against India here in the UK, England have drawn 2-2, won 4-1 and 3-1. Primarily, when beating India at home, England have bowled to take the top of off stump better. 

So, that's all I'm talking to the team about. Make sure that you try and press them on that forward defence. That's all you need to do. Keep pressing them on the forward defence, and I reckon they snick off. 

Phil Tufnell on Shoaib Bashir's role in the England bowling line-up

"Is Shoaib Bashir the best spinner in England? He can bowl a really good ball but I am slightly worried about his length, so it depends what kind of spinner you want him to be. 

"I don't think that they'll necessarily play Bashir to do a holding job in the first innings... I think they will almost play Bashir as just a wicket-taker, and it doesn't matter about how many runs he goes for, just try and get some wickets. 

"I mean that can be difficult when you're targeted on flat ones against Australia and India because he's not great at holding a length. He is very young. 

"I was always brought up as a spin bowler to get maidens, create pressure, work as a unit."  

David 'Bumble' Lloyd on the one bowler better than Jasprit Bumrah 

"Jasprit Bumrah is a very good bowler but is he the greatest bowler of all time? No, [it's] Fred Truman. Nobody has been as quick as Fred. Who was the first person to get 300 test match wickets? Fred. And he only played 60 test matches. 

"I remember one day someone said to him: 'He's marvellous this chap Gough, he's rather quick. I think he's probably the quickest bowler that Yorkshire has produced since the war.' 

"Fred replied: 'I can bowl faster than that in my mac and a pair of f*****g wellingtons!'"

Stick to Cricket team's all-time top Indian batsmen (in no particular order)

• Sachin Tendulkar
• Virat Kohli
• Sunil Gavaskar
• Yashasvi Jaiswal
• Mohammad Azharuddin

Stick to Cricket team's all-time top Indian bowlers (in no particular order)

• Kapil Dev
• Jasprit Bumrah
• Anil Kumble
• Zaheer Khan
• Ravichandran Ashwin

Now read Betfair Predicts: England v India Test odds as you've never seen them before