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At first it was meant to be a day off. Then it became an optional training day. But, by the time England left the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, every member of the squad had undergone not one but two full training sessions.The positive - and entirely accurate - interpretation of such behaviour is that it reflects their determination to perform far better than they did on the last afternoon in Dhaka. The less positive - and also partially true - interpretation is that the first session really hadnt gone very well and they came to the collective realisation that improvement was required.Certainly on-lookers didnt have to wait long to watch a batsman lose his wicket in the nets. And while they were coming to terms with the bounce and turn gained by the spinners, Jonny Bairstow - who enjoyed a much-improved series with the gloves in Bangladesh - was kicking the stumps away in frustration at a fumbled take. Gareth Batty also took a painful blow on the left arm that required treatment, but it is not thought to be a serious problem.But, at the team meeting that followed, a couple of the players - notably Joe Root and Jos Buttler - expressed a wish to have another go and every member of the squad agreed. This England team is far from perfect, but there is something admirable about their willingness to confront their failings and their desire to improve.India pose a big threat, and weve just got to make sure were prepared very well and try to prove a lot of people wrong that we can perform extremely well on this tour, Root said.But its good to see everyone working extremely hard and doing everything they can to put their claim forward for that spot.Nobody is under any illusions about the task ahead of England in India. They go into the series not just expected to lose, but with many predicting a whitewash. And anyone who witnessed them lose 10 wickets in a session in Dhaka would struggle to take issue too strongly with such pessimism. The weaknesses remain - the unsettled top-order and the issues in both bowling and batting against spin - and we are now at the stage where England must hope it all comes together on the night if they are to prevail.It would be wrong to completely dismiss their chances, though. Their preponderance of allrounders provides unusual depth and, in Root and Alastair Cook, they have good quality batsmen. The likes of Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali have made fitful progress in recent times and, as England showed in 2012, when they came back to beat India having been thrashed in Ahmedabad, or in 2015, when they won the Ashes after being crushed at Lords, there is a resilience to this modern England team that was not always there in the past.It was obviously a disappointing way to finish the series out in Bangladesh, but weve got some good time now to get ready and get our heads round what India are going to put up against us, said Root.You have to make sure you learn some of the lessons of that mad hour-and-a-half, but at the same time understand its a completely new challenge, new surfaces and we played some really good cricket over there as well as that [collapse].Any firm decision on the XI for Rajkot will only be made after an inspection of the pitch. But, for now, it seems likely that England will retain an attack of three seamers and three spinners and that Buttler will replace Gary Ballance in the middle order. It is not a perfect solution - Buttler has played just one red-ball match since he was dropped a year ago - but it may be the least bad option.While Haseeb Hameed looks perfectly capable of coming into the team as opener, Ben Duckett made a decent fist of the job in the final innings in Dhaka and Hameed is not a natural No. 4. Buttlers talent, if not his record, are not disputed and he is increasingly emerging as a leader of this generation of players. Still, it is a sign of how much the game has changed - and how quickly - that a man with so little cricket behind him is being considered for such a role.It was noticeable that Root bowled a little more in practice on Friday. He also talked of having spent some time with Saqlain Mushtaq in an attempt to improve his spin bowling. It is hard to believe Root is ready to play a major part as a spinner, though, not least as his importance to Englands batting is such that it seems foolish to risk exacerbating his long-standing back problem.We can also expect confirmation over James Andersons involvement in the tour in the next 24 hours or so. It is currently anticipated that he will be India in time for the second Test and available to play in the third. The management are determined not to risk compounding any injury issues he may have, but they are not in a position where they can manage without a bowler of his class, control and experience for long. Again, it says much for his character that he is, at his age and confronted by the prospect of unforgiving pitches (for his style of bowling, at least) and a daunting batting line-up, desperately keen to play.The England squad are pretty much laughing off any suggestion that the tour could be abandoned. They will not be required to pay any hotel bills - the BCCI has a contract with the hotels accommodating England on this trip and cannot wriggle out of that obligation - and it seems, instead, they are caught up in a PR battle between the BCCI and the Supreme Court of India. It is the sort of tiresome brinksmanship that may come back to bite the hosts when global events are being allocated.Only a few days ago, there were attempts to plant stories in the media about England not being given the warm-up game they wanted ahead of the first Test as the BCCI could not afford to stage it. It was news to England. Their schedule is an on-going problem and squeezing in a warm-up game between the end of the Bangladesh tour and the first Test in India was not an appealing prospect for a squad that go through life in a constant state of near exhaustion.There is little reason to doubt that England will train again on Saturday, depart for Rajkot on Sunday and start the next leg in their never-ending tour on Wednesday when the first Test begins. Wholesale Blues Jerseys . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. Robert Bortuzzo Jersey . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. http://www.wholesalebluesjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-patrik-berglund-jersey .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Oskar Sundqvist Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Vladimir Sobotka Jersey . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Whether or not Faf du Plessis applied an artificial substance to the ball in Hobart was irrelevant, David Warner said on Tuesday. And, to the series outcome, perhaps that is true. But that du Plessis was that evening found guilty enough of ball-tampering to cop a fine was anything but irrelevant to crickets bigger picture.Under the Laws of Cricket - Law 42.3, to be precise - players are allowed to polish the ball provided that no artificial substance is used. Du Plessis second conviction in three years - and South Africas third - is a warning to the rest that there will be a crackdown on this law, even though there is no clarity on what, for crickets purposes, constitutes an artificial substance.Broadly speaking, we all have some idea that shoe polish is synthetic and saliva is natural but what if the shoe polish is mixed with saliva? How much of the synthetic substance needs to mix with the natural one for all of it to be deemed artificial? And what if the artificial substance is food? Organic food? The wording of the law is too vague.As Jason Gillespie said in an interview on these pages, Its a tough one because in the laws of the game it says, technically, no one should be able to have anything in their mouth on the ground. You shouldnt be able to have any lollies, chewing gum, anything. I mean how far do we want to go? You cant have a Gatorade or whatever power drink they have because its got sugar in it. So everyone, just drink water. Where do you want to go with it?Gillespie is one of several former players to support the storm in a teacup argument over the shining of the ball. It is actually just accepted and isnt a big deal, Matt Prior said on Twitter, while Sourav Ganguly told ESPNcricinfos Match Day du Plessis, is not the first person who has done it and I dont think he will be the last.That was what South Africa were hoping would get du Plessis out of trouble. They are understood to have used the everybody-does-it defense. They produced footage of several high-profile players, including Virat Kohli and David Warner, using saliva that could have come into contact with an artificial substance on the ball.Neither example is as blatant as du Plessis: Kohli rubs something close to his teeth and for a split-second there seems to be gum visible, while Warner applies a lip balm and then receives the ball after the next delivery to polish. For the ICC to investigate those clips and lay a charge, the matter should have been brought to its notice within five days of the event*. Consider the similarity to the seatbelt law. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of drivers and passengers choose not to buckle up and when they are caught, they are fined because they are guilty of an offense. Even if youre an advocate for freedom of choice, or you fervently believe the seatbelt wont save your life, or you just forgot to put it on, you are still guilty, and will be sanctioned, and so will everyone else who is caught.ddddddddddddut perhaps the dossier du Plessis defence produced - and the comments from former players - will prompt a thorough enquiry. It may even lead to a realisation that a law becomes redundant if it is so openly flouted. Or perhaps it will just cause those players to become even more discreet, particularly the South Africans.They are only team to be caught in the past three years and every time, it has been by broadcast cameras. There is one school of thought that du Plessis would not have found himself charged if only South Africa hid their actions as well as other teams. He has just been a bit stupid, Ganguly said. Maybe because he was ignorant that the camera was on him. He could have done it differently.In this case, if du Plessis had had the sweet under his tongue, for instance, he would have got away with it completely. The on-field umpires, who check the ball after every over to assess its condition, did not detect anything amiss. However, it is interesting to note that all three umpires were strong in telling the hearing that had they seen du Plessis actions on field, they would have taken action immediately. At least the officials and the administrators are in sync, even if the players are not.All that leaves the ICC with a problem. One of their own laws is being flouted because players have found ways to skirt around it. Clearly, some players view it as a law that exists just for the sake of it. If players are happy to break it so long as no-one gets caught, there is obviously a problem. If the ICC is serious about enforcing its law, they need to make better efforts to clamp down, as they did with illegal bowling actions. Otherwise, they could accept that some form of working the ball will take place and make room for that within the laws.Perhaps that is the most reasonable solution. In any case, most players arent sure how an artificial substance actually affects the way the ball moves. Im no expert in the science of how a sugary sweet will impact on the aerodynamics of a cricket ball. I wouldnt have a clue, Gillespie confessed.So here is a left-field thought: someone could try to find out. Scientific research could be conducted into what substances have an effect on the ball, and whether such effects are significant enough to justify the laws existence. Perhaps cricket would end up with a list of banned substances, as WADA does with doping. But that has its own problems in terms of practicality.The issue is a hazy one, but if this hearing brings any sort of clarity it will prove a landmark moment indeed.*1215GMT The piece has been altered to clarify the ICC process regarding the Kohli and Warner footage ' ' '