Strauss craves bounce to rattle galacticos

England's captain Andrew Strauss believes Stuart Broad can play his part in taking on the touring India side. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

The statisticians may have added some spice by telling us that if England win the series against India by two clear Tests they will be ranked No1 in the world. But this series does not really need it.

The galacticos are here, probably for the last time: Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman. Perhaps we might also include the man who may now be richer than them all, MS Dhoni. Virender Sehwag, who will not be around for the first two Tests, may well have the credentials as well.

Even without Sehwag India are a delight to watch. They have the best batsmen in the world (Yuvraj Singh, no less, may not make their Test side), the canniest bowlers and some of the worst fieldsmen. England have not beaten them in a Test series since 1996 when the likes of Ronnie Irani, Peter Martin and Alan Mullally were somehow too much for Azharuddin, Tendulkar and Co.

England's recent record is not too shabby either. Since they lost in the Caribbean in 2009 soon after Andrew Strauss took the helm, England have won seven of their last eight series while drawing with South Africa.

So the cricket should be of high quality and keenly contested. We should not take too much notice of India's desultory efforts in the field at Taunton. Moreover, if there is a dull moment in the series, there is the added piquancy of England's old coach, Duncan Fletcher, now taking on that role for India.

Fletcher, by his standards, was in gregarious mood with his old mates in the press at Taunton, but from now onwards only the early birds watching the net practices will see much of him in this series. He prefers bonding with players rather than press. Strauss is not too concerned that his old mentor is now on the other side. "The planning is an important part of a Test series but what happens in the middle is always slightly divorced from the plan," he says. "You have got to be able to adapt to what the pitch is playing like on a given day, what the opposition are doing, and no coach can help you with that. That is something you have got to do out in the middle either as a bowling side or a batting side."

So we are not about to embark on a rarefied game of chess between the two Zimbabweans – Fletcher and Andy Flower – with the players of both sides their pawns. Over the past few years Strauss has become as close to Flower as he was to Fletcher. "They are different characters," he says. "There are a lot of similarities; they are both very loyal, they have both got very good cricket brains but they are different personalities completely. It doesn't mean they are not equally effective."

For Strauss Flower is more a collaborator than a mentor and he is more important to him now. But that does not mean that Strauss is about to deny the massive contribution of Fletcher to England's cricketers in the recent past.

"He made me aware of what Test cricket actually entailed," he maintains. "He is a great father figure; he has been there, done it all, seen it all and once he worked with you for a while it was very hard not to be loyal to him as a bloke.

"Cricket is in his veins, he loves the game and there is no bigger challenge than the India job – for someone like him it is probably the dream job." I hazard a guess that as an opponent Strauss will have a better relationship with Fletcher in this series than, say, Ricky Ponting during the 2005 Ashes.

Strauss thinks – and hopes – that home advantage should count for a lot in this series. But he is not so naive as to demand green tops. "We just want good Test match wickets, which means something in it for everyone. The Rose Bowl was an excellent wicket and we want that sort of carry and bounce if possible."

England crave bouncy pitches for their tall bowlers. That is how they think they can exploit their home advantage. But which bowlers? When the squad is announced this morning we expect to find Stuart Broad still there, along with Tim Bresnan. One of these will join Jimmy Anderson and Chris Tremlett in the final eleven. Despite his drought, Broad is more likely to play than Bresnan. But Strauss at least acknowledged that Broad has been going through a tough time recently.

"He is clearly frustrated that he has not taken more wickets. That is the same for everyone. If you are not performing up to the standards you are used to, it hurts. I don't think he is doing a lot wrong. The key thing is to be patient and persevere and not try and change his method too much. Stick to what he knows, keep banging out a length consistently and, as we have seen from most of our bowlers when they have done that over the last couple of years, it has generally worked," Strauss says, sticking to the Ashes formula.

Earlier in the summer it was suggested – not least by the side's bowling coach, David Saker – that Broad was the side's enforcer, the one to pepper opponents with the short stuff. "That is not his role in the side and it has never has been," Strauss clarifies. "Occasionally the situation dictates that you want to go short on a particular batsman, I think he is our best bowler at doing that. But Broad's role is not fundamentally different from Anderson or Tremlett, which is to build up pressure. He has got so many outstanding attributes: he bowls at good pace, gets good bounce and if he is banging out a length consistently he is going to be effective."

All of which suggests that Broad still has the confidence of his Test captain, even though he was dropped for the last ODI against Sri Lanka.

Probable squad: Strauss, Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Morgan, Prior, Broad, Swann, Tremlett, Anderson, Bresnan.

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Strauss handles India attack in warm-up

England captain Andrew Strauss plays a shot on his way to a score of 78 from 98 balls for Somerset on Friday. Photograph: Kieran McManus/BPI

They are used to an England left-hander pummelling the ball to the boundary at Taunton before giving him a standing ovation for a highly entertaining cameo. But on Friday when the maroon helmet was removed to acknowledge the applause there was the urbane visage of Andrew Strauss rather than the more bucolic features of Marcus Trescothick.

It all went rather well for Somerset's latest opener. Strauss struck 16 sweetly-timed boundaries in his 78 from 98 balls; he looked in princely form; he avoided being undermined by the left-armer, Zaheer Khan. In the end he was dismissed by the wrist-spinner Amit Mishra, who is unlikely to play in the first Test.

So Strauss is already in credit in this match even if his debut for Somerset, despite all the pre-match froth, lacked the drama provided by another England opener, Harold Gimblett, who first appeared with his borrowed bat at Frome in 1935.

Strauss stressed before the game that success or failure here would have a modest bearing upon what happens at Lord's next week. He just wanted some time in the middle and a glimpse of the Indian bowlers; this would be far more valuable than another net.

The England captain knows that it will be a bit more taxing at Lord's. For this match there is an old-fashioned Taunton belter of a pitch, the sort, which has batsmen salivating. He was clearly surprised when a little forward defensive scuttled away for two runs. For a county match there is usually more live grass visible. Moreover there were some rusty bowlers in the Indian team. Neither Zaheer nor Sreesanth have been in the Caribbean and were returning from injuries to an ankle and elbow respectively.

Zaheer is India's senior paceman and will presumably play at Lord's but he began very gingerly here, searching for swing at a gentle pace. He found some. When Strauss was on 20 Zaheer propelled a full-length in-swinger, which struck the front pad. An appeal with possibilities was rejected by the umpire Graham Lloyd. Otherwise the faster bowlers offered no alarms for Strauss and only Munaf Patel could keep him quiet.

Strauss was also aggressive against the spin of Mishra, but not flawless. He was dropped by the keeper, Wriddhiman Saha, on 64, but MS Dhoni's replacement could not possibly miss the next chance, which ballooned gently into the air via the inside edge of Strauss's bat and his thigh.His dismissal was the solitary success for the Indians in the first two sessions, during which the clouds gradually rolled in. They looked as if they were treating this match as very gentle practice. They would have liked to have played 14-a-side but that would have been an insult to the 6000 eager spectators, who turned up anxious for a sighting of Strauss or Sachin Tendulkar at the crease. All they saw Tendulkar do was drop a straightforward catch at square leg; Mishra spilled a much tougher caught and bowled chance and had to leave the field. In between the rain, the Indian attack was carted around Taunton with increasing disdain.

Arul Suppiah was unbeaten on 145. He had been content to be a passive ally for Strauss in the morning, looking on admiringly. After lunch he expanded his range of shots beguilingly. At the other end a more permanent Middlesex exile, Nick Compton, made 88 before reverse-sweeping a catch.

Trescothick, meanwhile, has escaped immediate suspension from the England and Wales Cricket Board after attending a disciplinary hearing because of the poor on-field behaviour of his team. He has been given a suspended two-match ban, and his county have been fined ?5,000, and ordered to pay ?500 costs.

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