Vaughan on England's danger list

England had their first bat under pressure yesterday and faltered, undone not by spin but by the persistent reverse-swing of Sanjay Bangar, a 29-year-old medium-pacer who plays for the railways.

Although the players have yet to be drawn into the crisis brewing at board level, the evidence from Hyderabad is that a match referee could ban half the Indian Test side and still not improve England's chances.

As England captain, Nasser Hussain has learnt above all else to be a realist and unless rapid progress is made soon, his team will accept with gratitude any discord in their opponents' camp. Indeed, sources in South Africa say this may extend beyond the recent carpeting by match referee Mike Denness to a row between Sachin Tendulkar and his captain, Sourav Ganguly, who is missing the unofficial Test, allegedly with a bad shoulder.

Then there is the one-match ban on 21-year-old batsman Virender Sehwag, whowill, according to the International Cricket Council, have to miss the First Test against England in Mohali on 3 December. Naturally this stance is being questioned here by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, whose president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, makes Machiavelli look as tame as the crackpots on soapboxes at Speakers' Corner. Yesterday Dalmiya told journalists: "There are still several days left before Mohali, but we'll sort something out in the meantime."

An early clue will be given on 29 November, when the chairman of selectors, Chandu Borde, announces India's team for the opening Test. If Sehwag is in the squad, the BCCI are being at least provocative, which would keep fanning the flames of ill-feeling that may soon test the bonds between the ICC and its member countries.

For Hussain, the problems on the field are more pressing. Left to bat 60 overs on the final day, England lost nine wickets for 163 runs as Bangar, with 5 for 32, swung his way to the best figures against England on this ground.

Hyderabad, despite its more kindly climate, is beyond the cosmopolitan India that England coped with so capably in Bombay. The bravado which had proved so productive there failed them on the slow sandpit here, a pitch the likes of which fewer than half this team would have seen before, but typical of this part of the world. Although the bowlers finally got some measure of it, only Mark Ramprakash and Hussain, the two England players with Indian genes, looked in control on it with the bat.

Ramprakash has been impressive in every innings. As if freed of some burden, he appears to be revisiting the certainties of his early years with Middlesex before the cynicism and grind of county cricket brought anger and self-doubt.

His century in the first innings was perfectly conceived and executed. Yesterday, he played almost as well, being unlucky to glance Murali Kartik fine enough for the wicketkeeper to take a freak catch. As if to prove a point to those who lambasted him for his yahoo against Shane Warne at Trent Bridge, he even belted Sarandeep Singh's first ball over the ropes at mid-wicket. An off-spinner with a snappy action, Sarandeep is the next in line after Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, but that did not prevent Ramprakash from savaging him.

With the ball turning, and bounce variable, it might have been understandable had England succumbed to spin. Instead, thanks to rash shots from Craig White and Mark Butcher, and understandable greenness from James Foster and Richard Dawson, it was the pace bowlers who did the damage.

Michael Vaughan's inability to convert a brisk start into runs, after playing outside an inswinger, means Butcher has probably sealed his spot as Marcus Trescothick's partner. Indeed, if England are intent on playing Andrew Flintoff, Vaughan will probably miss out altogether, a harsh side-effect of the short warm-up periods now favoured by Duncan Fletcher.

Afterwards, Fletcher sympathised with Vaughan, but insisted England could learn from Bangar. "Michael looked in good form and batted well, but got one that kept a bit low," he said. "As far as experience gained, I'm fairly happy with our cricket here, though the bowlers have to realise that on slow pitches there is little margin for error and you have to get six balls in the right area. That is what Bangar did."

If all need improvement, the most amenable are Matthew Hoggard and Martyn Ball, the latter's batting also proving competent. Hoggard has looked far more impressive than James Ormond, who, perhaps significantly with one warm-up match remaining, did not bowl yesterday.

Hoggard's willingness to treat all spells as equal is reminiscent of Darren Gough, even if he does not yet have Gough's nose for a wicket or his skill for reverse swing. However Hoggard's 2 for 51 was hard earnt, as were all wickets by England.

Ball got far more turn than Dawson, earning plaudits from Sridharan Sriram, who made 149 of the home side's total of 339 for 7 declared. His three wickets were pukka too, none coming from slogged catches in the deep.

Coached at Gloucestershire by New Zealander John Bracewell, who won a Test in India bowling his off-spin, Ball is a late developer. Providing he can cut his output of long-hops and full tosses by half, he may yet become a means of attack for Hussain, whose options, with Ashley Giles yet to bowl in the middle and Craig White reincarnated as a medium-pacer, are limited to just one bowler.