Fletcher wants spinners to train in India

Ashley Giles was the tourists' best performer in the Test series defeat by Sri Lanka, claiming 18 wickets with his remodelled action, but a lack of support limited attacking options.

Off-spinner Gareth Batty bagged only six victims, and failed to take a wicket in the third Test.

However, Fletcher believes a general malaise in the slow bowling department can be cured with regular exposure to the low, slow surfaces found predominantly in Asia.

''We want some sort of programme put in place where we can work on these spinners on a regular basis,'' Fletcher said.

''We have to make sure we develop someone in that area as we have always struggled with our spin bowlers.

''We need something which should involve senior players increasing their education and if there is time three or four could go over to India to a school there, bowling on different wickets, or come out here and gain experience of working for wickets in difficult conditions.

''At the moment it is pretty hard for a young guy like Batty - he was not very experienced coming out here.

''You have to learn how to bowl on these wickets and bowling spin out here is a lot different to bowling spin in England.''

Giles, meanwhile, enjoyed a rebirth at international level following a torrid trot which encouraged him to straighten his approach to the crease.

Encouraged by the turn and bounce on offer in the first two Tests, the Warwickshire left-armer proved England's one attacking option in a series dominated by Sri Lankan star turn Muttiah Muralitharan.

''Ashley bowled exceptionally well and that is why we have rated this fellow and kept with him,'' said Fletcher.

''I still think he is the best spinner in England at the moment.''

Murali's 26 wickets were the key to keeping Sri Lanka in control, something they relinquished to Nasser Hussain's tourists of three winters ago.

That defeat led the former Lancashire and Kent player to develop his exaggerated wrong 'un, leaving opponents uncertain as to which way the ball would fizz off the pitch.

Lacking the confidence to sweep in such circumstances, as they did so effectively in 2001, the England top order failed to consolidate and build totals big enough to pressurise the Sri Lankans.

''Murali's mystery ball created doubt and if you create doubt it gives you a hell of an opportunity for batters to make mistakes and that is what it did,'' said Fletcher, who was credited for helping to combat the spinner in the previous series win.

''A few guys struggled because they couldn't tell with this new ball which way it was going to go and he was bowling a lot quicker.

''When we were here last time we could pick up his 'googly' because it didn't really turn, it went straight on and did so slower, so you had a little bit of time to adjust.

''This time it was a lot quicker, it went more than a leg-break bowler bowls it and you couldn't read it out of the hand. You were never quite sure which way it was going to go.

''If you suddenly don't read one on a spinning track, you just need it to keep low or spin and you are in trouble.

''The whole time he used the crease, going around the wicket to narrow the channel of the batsmen, and suddenly the angles were different. This game is nothing but angles.''

Fletcher insists that the innings-and-215-run defeat in the final Test - the third-heaviest in English Test history - was not a true indication of their progress, or lack of it, this winter. ''We knew from our wins in Pakistan and Sri Lanka during 2000-01 that back-to-back series in the subcontinent would be very tough,'' said the Zimbabwean.

''That result is not a reflection of the tour.

"We had a very young side and we knew this part of it would be very difficult. We had to find a way around Muralitharan and we struggled to do that.

''Last time we were here Galle was set up for Muralitharan and the other two were good cricket wickets.

"This time all three were set up the same way and we always knew the batters would struggle even though we had the experience.''