test2wa

England International

Former England coach Duncan Fletcher says England will miss ex-captain Michael Vaughan on their tour of India.

Vaughan won't figure in the touring party to the subcontinent later this year, despite being given a central contract.

The tour snub came after Vaughan had struggled for runs with both England and Yorkshire during a difficult summer.

But former England coach Fletcher says he'll still be missed when the plane takes off for India.

He told The Guardian: "It's a big blow for England that Michael Vaughan doesn't feel in the right frame of mind to tour India. People will wonder what I mean when they look at the difficult season he's had but I believe they will be in for a nasty shock if they really think he'll be easy to replace out there.

"Successful batting in India requires skill, character and patience - the three qualities Vaughan demonstrated so superbly when he made a match-saving hundred on a turning pitch against Muttiah Muralitharan at his peak in Kandy a few years ago.

"Who else of the current side can play an innings like that in the heat and humidity they're likely to encounter in Ahmedabad and Mumbai? It's a bit of a worry.

"The two openers, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, have the mentality but are both susceptible to spin, and you have to allow Kevin Pietersen to play his natural game. I'm not sure Ian Bell has shown yet he can adopt the mindset necessary to see off Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh for a whole day on a turning track, and Paul Collingwood can struggle early on against spin, however mentally tough he is."

Fletcher admits there are a couple of improvements that Vaughan needs to make to his game, but nothing more than that.

He added: "I believe that if he's in line for a return for the West Indies tour in the spring, then he can use the warm-up games there to iron out a couple of technical flaws that I've touched on before - mainly the fact that he's been getting too square on. Any suggestion his eye has gone is rubbish."