England recalled left-arm spinner Monty Panesar for the Ashes series in Australia in their 16-man squad named on Thursday.
But the 32-year-old with 302 Test wickets didn't deny that it was indeed a great opportunity to gear up for the big battle against India.
A look at the bowlers' honours board at Trent Bridge appears ominous for Team India, ahead of the second Test, beginning Friday.
# England's victory by 196 runs is their 35th against India in 100 Tests. (Lost 19 and Drawn 46) with a success percentage of 35.00.
The fiasco that concluded England's opening World Cup match could have been avoided if the officials had not let their minds wander from the blue zone to red, reckons The Guardian's Mike Selvey.
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow put England on course for a ground-breaking run chase against India despite Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance on day four of the rescheduled fifth Test, setting up a fitting series finale in Birmingham on Monday.
A fiery opening spell from fast bowler James Anderson allowed Alastair Cook to celebrate his first home match with a thumping 110-run win over a shell-shocked Sri Lanka at the Oval on Tuesday.
'I can from outside say criticism is unnecessary but I know for a fact that Pujara doesn't care and criticism is as relevant as you want it to be.'
England face a tricky selection dilemma ahead of Thursday's third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl.
Unlike some of the Indian stars, the English players are in favour of using the much-debated Umpire Decision Review System in next month's four-Test series between the two sides.
England have named pace bowler James Anderson in place of Jade Derbach in their 12-man squad for the third and final Test of the series against Sri Lanka starting at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Thursday.
England coach Andy Flower is not too keen to see his players take part in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League, citing that the T20 meet has already added to the busy international schedule of his cricketers.
England rode their luck through a rocky afternoon spell to reach 167-3 in their first innings at the close of play on the second day of the fifth Ashes Test after dismissing Australia for 280 on Tuesday.
Tendulkar also felt that Leach doesn't vary his pace a lot which will be required on tracks offer turn.
Archer has been on the receiving end of racist abuse in the past, notably during the second Test defeat by New Zealand last year.
Prasanna Jayawarde's patient century lifted Sri Lanka to 400 all out and England lost their captain Andrew Strauss to end the second day of the first Test on 47 for one on Friday.
James Anderson hailed England's stunning dismissal of Australia and their batsmen's unbeaten march to stumps on the opening day of the fourth test in Melbourne on Sunday, a day in which all of the chips fell in the tourists' favour.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting and opener Simon Katich scored unbeaten centuries during a second wicket partnership of 189 on the second day of the first Ashes Test against England in Cardiff on Thursday.
England's James Anderson has displaced India's Zaheer Khan to claim third place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers.
England ripped through Australia's top order in a stunning start to the second Ashes Test on Friday, taking three wickets in the first 10 minutes before the hosts were able to find their feet in the contest.
England made a bright start to their second Test against Pakistan at Headingley on Friday, after being hammered at Lord's last week, with Stuart Broad taking two early wickets and the visitors reduced to 68-4 at lunchtime.
The second day's play in the second Test between England and the West Indies was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to torrential rain in Chester-Le-Street on Friday. England ended the first day on 302 for two with Alastair Cook on 126 not out and nightwatchman James Anderson on four.
Australia opener Chris Rogers was forced to retire on 49 not out after apparently suffering from dizziness on the fourth day of the second Ashes Test against England at Lord's on Sunday.
'It must be a nightmare for the selectors, but should you have your best side for that first India Test? If the next Test after this series was Brisbane in the Ashes, would we send our best side? So why when it's the first Test against India, one of the great sides, aren't we sending our best team?'
England have called up uncapped batsman Ollie Pope to replace out of form David Malan while paceman Chris Woakes comes in for all-rounder Ben Stokes for the second Test against India, which begins on Thursday at Lord's.
Steve Smith continued his build up for the fourth Ashes Test by heading straight to the practice nets after being dismissed in Australia's tour match against Derbyshire on Thursday.
England are the current World Twenty20 champions, but their success in the mega-event last year was not reflected at the 2011 Indian Premier League Players's two-day auction, that concluded in Bangalore, on Sunday.
Paceman James Anderson, who won the first Test for England with match figures of 11-71 against Pakistan, believes he can be just as effective in the Ashes series in Australia when the ball is not swinging.
England stood on the brink of a first Ashes series triumph in Australia for 24 years after reducing the hosts to 213 for seven in their second innings at stumps on the fourth day of the fifth Test on Thursday.
In the ICC Test ranking for batsmen, Virat Kohli was in the second position, while Cheteshwar Pujara was placed sixth.
England pacer James Anderson has revealed that he learnt a few tricks of how to keep batsmen guessing which way the ball will swing from Indian strike bowler Zaheer Khan which helped him transformed into a lethal bowler in the last few years.
A concussed Smith was ruled out of the third Test, starting at Headingley on Thursday, after being struck in the neck by a vicious bouncer from England paceman Jofra Archer.
'Certainly, I've had some success at Galle, and I know some of the other seamers have as well, so it is certainly not doom and gloom for the seamers. We've got to be ready to put in a big shift.'
After long discussions, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and England and Wales Cricket Board had said more test results will be taken into consideration before taking a call on the match getting underway.
In recent weeks we have reflected, and acknowledge that black players and fans, who have contributed so much to the history of our game, now feel disenfranchised. They do not feel as if cricket is a game for them. This must change.'
England coach Andy Flower has said that fast bowler James Anderson is winning his battle to be fit for next month's opening Ashes Test against Australia.
Clarke hopeful of Australia finding right mix between youth and experience after the team was described as a "Dad's Army" by former fast bowler and present Yorkshire coach, Jason Gillespie.
Indians dominated the limited-over teams by having three and four players in the ODI and T20I respectively
Pakistan survived a late scare to beat England by four wickets with more than a day to spare in the third Test at the Oval on Saturday.
England spin bowler Graeme Swann has admitted that some of the Ashes winning heroes may have urinated on The Oval pitch during late night celebrations to 'answer a call of nature' even as a regretful ECB has decided against taking any public action.
