Bairstow in reckoning to get tour nod from Flower

But for coach Andy Flower, it is already clear his England team have made significant strides amid their struggles through the desert.

Should England prevail at the Zayed Stadium, a 2-1 comeback victory in cricket’s shortest format will give them a tangible success to add to their 4-0 one-day international series win.

That has helped, to some degree, ease the disappointment of their 3-0 Test series defeat, the first Tests England played as world No 1s.

Flower does not believe the short-format wins do enough to erase the pain of Test defeat completely, but he is encouraged by the improvements made against Pakistan’s spinners by Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook.

Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow too appeared to have learned the lessons of the opening defeat as his match-winning unbeaten 60 helped level the Twenty20 series on Saturday.

“That first game we put ourselves in a very strong position to win it,” said Flower.

“We had 35 to get off the last five overs with seven wickets in hand. Then there was some really good ‘death’ bowling from (Saeed) Ajmal and (Umar) Gul that ensured that we didn’t.

“But that was a great experience, for our young players especially.

“In this game we won last night, I thought Bairstow’s innings was outstanding – very skilful, and very powerful as well.

“That’s a very good combination to have.”

The England coach now has 24 hours to consider his Test squad to face Sri Lanka, due to be announced tomorrow, and it seems Bairstow may have done enough to force his way in.

“A young guy like Jonny Bairstow has shown that he has learned from the first Twenty20 game and showed a slightly different method against Gul and against the spin,” Flower said.

“Those are good signs for me as a coach to see.

“The guys are learning and embedding those lessons – that’s a very healthy thing for us in the future.”

At 22, Bairstow is bound to still be fine-tuning his game.

But others of a different vintage have had to rethink their methods too, after initially coming up so far short against off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and slow left-armer Abdur Rehman here.

“I think we’ve learned some good lessons from the Test experience,” said Flower.

“I think you can see some of the learning coming out in some of the batsmen at the moment – which is great to see, because it would be very disappointing to go through those tough experiences and not come out the other side as better players.

“I think some of them are coming out the other side as better players.

“A good example would be Kevin Pietersen, who has turned round his form but also has shown us a different method in the one-dayers.

“Alastair Cook also had a tough Test series – like most of our batsmen – but played superbly in the one-day series to show the requisite skills you need in these conditions.”

Two Tests in Sri Lanka will be an ideal stage for Cook, Pietersen and others to demonstrate their new-found assurance against spin.

Before then, though, there is one more match to be won on this tour – a mission which will have consequences for English prospects on another trip to Sri Lanka, to defend their ICC World Twenty20 crown in September.

Flower knows the exposure to high-class spin, on Asian surfaces, can only help both Bairstow and Jos Buttler.

“The experience that those guys will have gained in a pressure situation against very good opposition in these conditions will be absolutely vital to their growth and to our growth as a side,” he said. “We have to have, at this stage, an eye on the World Cup.

“How we play against these spin bowlers in these conditions – and how quickly we learn – is vital to our chances in Sri Lanka.”

Australia booked a spot in the Commonwealth Bank Series final after thrashing a disappointing India by 87 runs at the SCG.

In a match that featured its fair share of controversy, the home side made 252-9 before bowling the visitors out for just 165 in the 40th over, claiming a bonus point along the way.

India will now require a minor miracle to prevent Sri Lanka joining Australia in the best-of-three final series.

Last year’s World Cup winners again batted poorly but will leave Sydney with a sour taste in their mouths after two controversial incidents.

Sachin Tendulkar’s final innings on the ground where he was made an honorary member before play ended in drama when he was run out on the last ball of the seventh over.

Gautam Gambhir dropped the ball at his feet and Tendulkar took off for a quick single but was forced to veer around Brett Lee as the bowler charged down the pitch.

The Little Master – still looking for an historic 100th international century – was caught well short of his crease by a diving throw by David Warner and then threw his arms in the air in exasperation after indicating his path had been blocked.

As an angry Tendulkar slowly walked off the SCG for the last time after scoring just 14, the umpires conferred before deciding Lee had not impeded the batsman.

Tendulkar’s dismissal continued a dramatic match in which David Hussey survived an obstructing the field/handled ball appeal after using his hand to repel a throw from the infield during Australia’s innings.

Hussey, who was on 17 at the time, went on to score 54.