Eoin Morgan's dry run will test Andy Flower's loyalty as he ponders England's touring party for Sri Lanka Ravi Bopara was the backup batsman in the UAE and could take Morgan's place in the Test side even if the Dublin-born left-hander is included in the squad. But Jonathan Bairstow has also begun to compete for the Test No 6 spot, his barnstorming 60 in the second T20 and his ability to learn quickly from previous mistakes having garnered special praise from Flower. The Test whitewash inflicted by Pakistan was due to the systemic failure of England's batting. So bad was it that Andrew Strauss, along with Ian Bell and Matt Prior, will travel to Sri Lanka five days early with batting coach Graham Gooch to face some spin. By contrast, the bowlers were virtually blameless. Even when Flower and Strauss opted for an attack comprising two pacemen and two spinners, they proved competitive enough for the combination to be considered for Sri Lanka where, if anything, the pitches will be every bit as slow and offer just as much traction as those in the Middle East. What will be very different, given the unseasonably cool weather in the UAE, is the climate, with tropical Sri Lanka providing heat and humidity to place strain on a four-man attack, even one containing two spinners as industrious as Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. For that reason, the return of Tim Bresnan provides a welcome option, as does Bopara with his bustling medium-pacers, though both have to make the starting XI first. If playing two spinners is central to England's plans, as it became against Pakistan, then a backup spinner will also be required. Patel is really a batsman who bowls, but his steady left-arm spin gives England yet more choice without weakening the batting, something that could prove attractive given the latter's recent failings. Patel was also England's best batsman against spin on the one-day tour of India last October and is a tough competitor who relishes the close conflict in the middle that overcame so many against Pakistan. But he possesses the kind of physical profile sported by cricketers from the last century not this one and his attempts to trim down have so far met with modest success. Still, he offers more with the bat than Danny Briggs or Scott Borthwick, two promising spinners who've tasted international cricket, though whether it is enough for him to be handed the chance of Test cricket will be known later today.