The conclusion ... not good enough

If the England A squad were looking for comforting words from Rod Marsh, their coach, following their poor performance in India, they were out of luck. Marsh, renowned for his bluntness, made it clear that he thought the squad simply wasn't good enough.

"There aren't many of this group that will be successful Test-match or one-day players," Marsh told The Daily Telegraph. "But there are, without any question, at least a couple of guys who will play."

Marsh's frustration was plain to see as England A lost all four one-day matches, and although they won their first-class match against Tamil Nadu, they slid to defeat in their next two games and failed to reach the Duleep Trophy final. Marsh claimed that the some of the squad had "had it too easy for too long". He added: "There is a distinct lack of discipline. I can't see what's wrong with telling the truth. Maybe people don't like hearing the truth."

But he did try to draw some positives. "The results would suggest that as a team, we were rubbish, but as a development tour there were some very good things that have come out of it. Some of the boys learned a lot about the game in this part of the world and out of each Academy intake, if you get one or two players who go on to play for England, it is worth it."