Ashes to dust as England seek credibility

In the Daily Telegraph, Derek Pringle writes that beating Australia might earn a gong and champagne with the Queen, but winning a Test series in India is a prize achieved by only a few.

"India is a forbidding place in which to play cricket and was the final frontier on Australia's way to world domination.

"For Michael Vaughan's tour party, who landed in Bombay this morning, the trip could be seen as simply settling the battle for second place in the world rankings, which India briefly pinched off England last month.

"Yet a more telling truth is at stake - namely whether England are genuine contenders for the Aussies' Test crown or simply a side who enjoyed a freakish peak during last summer's Ashes. "