Fletcher has scores to settle in battle for supremacy

For while coaches, not least those employed in the sub-continent, can be low-key tourists when compared with their players, Duncan Fletcher’s return is not likely to go undiscussed.

Fletcher was, inarguably, the man who set England on the course they are currently on and despite his mostly cold appearances in front of the media, he is held in the highest regard as a tactician and analyst of the game.

It is to be hoped fans around the country will take the chance to give the 62-year-old the welcome he warrants as the architect of England’s unforgettable Ashes-winning summer of 2005, but the players may be less happy to see the world’s No 1 side aided and abetted by a man whose talents were most obviously displayed during his ECB days.

England’s best hopes of taking 20 wickets in each match against a positively stellar batting line-up that counts Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni alongside the ubiquitous Tendulkar, lie in their ability to get the Indians fending at the moving ball on traditional English tracks.

Fletcher, though, is as schooled in such conditions as any coach on the international circuit and has come to the series armed with an arsenal of hints, tips and technical twists to make his charges feel more at home.

With his flair for imparting batting advice and his many years of service in England, there is perhaps nobody better suited to coaxing the very best out of a lavishly-talented side.

There is also sure to be no shortage of hunger.

Fletcher will feel, rightly or wrongly, that he has scores to settle with a press pack with whom he endured modest relations in his final throes as England coach.

Additionally, after a prolonged period out of full-time coaching, Fletcher will do everything in his power not to be shown as yesterday’s man.

In a way, he has plenty to lose.

He is coming up against Andy Flower – a fellow Zimbabwean whose stated aim is to do that which Fletcher, for all his triumphs, never managed and make England the No 1 team in the world.

Flower is a different character to Fletcher – calmer, younger and with a less rigid approach to selection – and with comparisons between the two so tempting given their backgrounds, the notion of coming off second best will be particularly nauseating. While Flower’s knowledge of England and English players will be a huge fillip for the Indians in terms of preparation, many of the players he worked closest with are gone.

His presence may have something of an effect on Graeme Swann’s performances. The way Swann’s stock has soared since his belated promotion to the international scene appears to make a mockery of Fletcher’s refusal to select him after one unsatisfactory tour.

On Saturday, Dravid became the second highest run scorer in the history of Test cricket but he admitted he had been allowed to “slip by quietly” amid the hype surrounding team-mate Tendulkar.

Dravid hit a fine unbeaten 103 to fend off a rampant England on day three of the 2,000th Test and series opener.

That was enough to take him to 12,417 runs and past Ricky Ponting on the all-time batting list.

That anybody could reach such a tally out of the spotlight seems unthinkable and would be impossible were it not for Tendulkar, who has over 2,000 more Test runs and came to the crease seeking an unprecedented 100th international century.

He managed only 34, but Dravid said: “The talk is always about Sachin and rightly so. He is a true legend of the game. To be on 99 hundreds...it was set up for him. It suits me, I suppose. I can slip by quietly, do my job and get on with business.

“It’s not really about numbers for me but the longevity, for me to be playing after 15 years and making contributions, still being able to play the kind of knocks I want to for India makes me feel good.”

Dravid’s efforts helped the tourists to 284 all out, with England nudging the deficit to 193 after five overs at the end of the day.

England bowler Stuart Broad hailed a “team effort” after his return to form helped give his side a healthy lead.

Broad, whose place had been under threat for this match, led the England attack at Lord’s with 4-37.

“It was pleasing to pick up some wickets today,” said Broad. “But as a team effort I think we did really well to get India out for 290 because the wicket was playing pretty well.”

England struggled to make openers Gautam Gambhir and Abhinav Mukund play at the start of the day, but Mukund freed his arms as the morning progressed, flashing a couple of times at James Anderson and taking successive fours off Chris Tremlett.

Broad, bowling fuller than in recent times and relocating his ability to swing the ball, had him plumb lbw with a yorker but bafflingly failed to appeal. His reward came when he found the gap between bat and pad, bowling the left-hander for 15.

Broad continued to pitch it up and had a second success when Mukund dragged on to his off stump to fall for 49. That brought the veterans Tendulkar and Dravid together.

At lunch, India were 102-2. After the break, India’s key men threatened to take the game away from England with a series of wonderful strokes.

Forty overs were down before Andrew Strauss went for spin in the form of Swann but it was the reintroduction of Broad that did the damage.

He took just four balls to get the prize wicket of Tendulkar, shaping one away, inviting the drive and celebrating joyously as Swann snared the edge. India’s 158-3 could have got even worse as the rampant Broad saw two catches shelled in his next over.

Dravid’s half-century came off 98 balls but Laxman could not cash in and lifted Tremlett tamely to fine leg to depart for 10.

India opted to send Suresh Raina in ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni but the captain’s arrival was delayed by only two balls as Swann pinned the former leg before for a duck.

Dravid and Dhoni killed the bowlers’ momentum after tea, their 50 stand taking 137 balls.

England gladly took the new ball at 235-5 and it quickly did its job, Tremlett finding the edges of Dhoni (28) and Harbhajan Singh (0) in the space of three balls to leave the tourists’ seven down. Dravid was on 80 then but he upped his run-rate accordingly.

On 98 he forced Tremlett off his pads for two, pumping his fist to record a significant landmark.

Broad bounced out Praveen Kumar (17) for his fourth wicket, and Anderson skittled Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma without scoring to end India’s first innings of the series.