England Pick And Mix
Ambrose - one of two wicketkeepers.
Nasser Hussain is happy enough with England's personnel for India, if not the signals sent out by the selectors.
I don't have any problems with England's squad, but I do like to see consistency of selection.
I don't mind which wicketkeeper they chose, just give him an absolute chance, give him a go - even if he's having a bad patch. But England change their wicket-keeper too much and that is the one thing that stands out from the 15 named for the India tour.
Personally I felt Matt Prior was hard-done-by when he was dropped the last time because I am from the new school where if a bloke can bat, you can work on his wicket-keeping.
Prior showed he can bat, so I would have stuck with him. Six months ago he was left out because he wasn't good enough and Tim Ambrose played, now Ambrose has played and I don't think they know who the better keeper is.
It looks like Prior is going to start, I think that's the way they are going to go. Now, you make a decision on a keeper and you either stick with him or discard him and it is time they made that decision. Peter Moores has known Prior and Ambrose for a long time now since their Sussex days and it's just time to work out which one is the better one - and stick with him.
For me I would have gone with Prior and I would have gone with James Foster - if they don't believe Ambrose is the right choice - and I am not one just to stick with Ambrose just because he played this summer. I think Foster and Prior are the best two but the selectors have seen it differently. All I would call for is some consistency.
Similarly, I am an Owais Shah fan, but again his call-up shows a slight inconsistency in selection because if you remember the last Test squad that was announced against South Africa at the Oval, Ravi Bopara was in it. He made the 13 but not the actual side, but how come he isn't good enough to be in the 15 now?
I am sure Ravi must be disappointed but I have no problem with Shah going - I think he deserves his chance. He's been a consistent performer in county cricket in the last three years, when he last went to India on debut he got runs, he's a good player of spin and he has a good bit of arrogance about him.
As for the other name that will make the headlines, I think Graeme Swann is a good, competitive cricketer and wasn't surprised to see him get the nod. But I don't think England have a pool of quality, high-class spinners out there to choose from.
Swann is a good all-round cricketer and the sort of fiesty character you need in India because it is going to be tough. They are going to go after spin, they obviously play it very well and I do think this tour has probably come a year too early for young Adil Rashid.
I think he's more of a batsman that bowls a bit and that's what you need in England. Samit Patel hasn't got that many County Championship wickets this season and in India you do need your best two spinners.
Both Test venues, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, will spin so England will need two spinners. If they were up north in Mohali, maybe not, but with the new stadium in Mumbai - the Brabourne Stadium - no-one knows what the surface is going to be like, so both will play.
It's not necessarily a shoo-in but you can bet India will be preparing pitches that turn and Swann will have to make sure he doesn't think he's just carrying the drinks for Monty, because he will have a role to play.
There will be some attention on Steve Harmison as he tours again, but he has made himself available for the one-dayers as well which is the only way to go with Steve.
I would have been worried if he was playing the two Test matches because that would have meant that between Durham's title celebrations on Saturday night and December, he wouldn't have done a lot - and that is when Steve Harmison becomes a concern.
Now he's playing everything, he's centrally contracted and he'll be bowling in Antigua. He'll be bowling in the one-dayers in India so he will go into the two Tests fit and raring to go. He'll be in the groove, which is ideal for Harmison and ideal for England.
And it is only a two-Test series, which probably explains why the selectors haven't gone outside the one-day side too much. All the boys will be out there playing cricket, so they will be ready for the Tests.
Someone like Shah or Swann will be ready just to slot in, and in fact Panesar might be the only one who needs some cricket because he's not in the one-day side. You hope Monty will be out there earlier at one of the cricket schools, getting a feel for the conditions so he is ready for those Tests.
India is a fantastic tour, one I've never had a problem with. Everything about it is just great: you realise how lucky you are as a cricketer; they love the game; you are the centre of attention; the hotels are great; the food is great; the crowds are great - it's just a wonderful tour to be on.
You don't get specifically ill any more and you are looked after very well. But the cricket is tough and one of the pieces of advice I would pass on to Kevin Pietersen, as captain, which I learned on my tour there, is to try and stay in control of the run rate out on the field.
You have to try and control the emotion of the crowd, keep them subdued when the likes of Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni and of course, Sachin Tendulkar are batting. If you can do that and quieten the crowd then you're on top of the game, but if you just go in without any plans and start getting smacked around, then things can easily slip away from you and suddenly you find yourself batting last on a turning pitch.
England need to put the pressure back on the Indians and that first Test in Ahmedabad is even more important than usual because if they can get to Mumbai still in with a chance of winning the series, you'll be amazed how much the Indian public gets on their own players' backs.
Those players have a really important series coming up against Australia which will go a long way to deciding what England are actually facing on the field. If they go well in that, you can expect a very confident India side.
There has been a little bit of a shift in their selection and the senior players - the Dravids, the Gangulys, the Tendulkars, VVS Laxman - because they haven't performed for a while.
Youngsters are starting to knock on the door more and more, but the one thing we all know is that you can never write off India's star players.