India demand sixth match

England are likely to give way to the latest demands of Jagmohan Dalmiya by agreeing to play six one-day matches in India after Christmas, one more than the five scheduled.

Dalmiya, the president of the Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI), last night insisted that India would play a four-match Test series in England next year only if their opponents agreed to play either a six-match one-day series in India after Christmas or a five-Test series in 2006, or both.

"It is very simple," he said. "There must be reciprocity. We will go to play four matches in England, but you must promise that in 2006 you will play five games - four plus the one missed out this year.

"As for the one-dayers, India will be playing seven in England next year, but when you come here England will only play five. There is enough time for more because England arrive on the 12th (of January) and their first match is not until the 22nd. India has said that we will settle for six."

England insist that India have a binding agreement to play four Tests next year, and Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has been quoted in the Indian press as refusing to discount the possibility of legal redress if India refuse.

The five-Test series in 2006 would seem a definite non-starter, as England are also due to tour Pakistan that winter as part of the new Test world championship. But the signs are that England may be about to give way on the one-dayers by agreeing to the six matches, as Lamb discussed the issue with the coach Duncan Fletcher in Chandigarh this week.

Meanwhile, Dalmiya has called India's coach John Wright and the team's physiotherapist Andrew Leipus to a meeting in New Delhi today to discuss the side's poor recent form in Test series abroad.

Under Wright, the former New Zealand captain who was appointed India's first foreign coach last year, and Leipus, an Australian, India have drawn against Zimbabwe and lost to Sri Lanka and South Africa. During the three series India suffered a spate of injuries to key players.

Martyn Ball, the Gloucestershire off-spinner, is set to make his Test debut on Tuesday with Ashley Giles struggling to recover from his heel injury.

Fletcher stressed that Giles would have to prove his fitness in the nets if he were to be selected alongside Richard Dawson. But the Warwickshire left-armer had another cortisone injection 48 hours ago and Fletcher seemed to be looking ahead to the third Test in Bangalore as a more likely date for his return.