Hussain: A pinch hitter is our top priority

I know that, beforehand, most people expected India to win this seven-match series comfortably, but I always thought England should have been regarded as slight favourites, mainly because of India's terrible mobility in the field, and I'm not surprised it's 3-3.

Key man: Flintoff bowls at Lord's yesterday, watched by coach Moores

India still rely far too much on their senior players and appear to be a team in decline, whereas England have shown that, while their old guard may be gradually disappearing, the young guns emerging look exciting.

Owais Shah, Stuart Broad, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright have all made their mark, but there are still three areas of concern which stop me getting too carried away by England's improvement in a form of cricket in which we have struggled for far too long.

There is a problem at the top of the order. Both Alastair Cook and Matt Prior need a score today because, as a combination, they have yet to convince me that they can fully take advantage of the powerplay overs. Who is going to pinch-hit in the long-term for England? We are still looking for the answer.

Secondly, Monty Panesar concerns me. I'm still very much a fan but he offers little with the bat or in the field and he must become an attacking spinner in one-day cricket rather than look to contain, as he seems to do now.

If Monty is going to take one for 40 from his 10 overs then we would be better served by a spinning all-rounder, such as Graeme Swann.

Panesar needs to follow the example of Ramesh Powar in this series, give the ball some flight, vary his pace and have a bit of mystery and aggression about him.

Maybe Monty is just a little bit too meek and humble to throw the ball up at the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in one-day cricket, but he needs to change his style if he is going to become a major player in this form of the game.

Thirdly, there is the perennial Andrew Flintoff question. With Freddie following Broad and Jimmy Anderson, England look to have a really formidable combination but, when he is missing, their attack is much weaker, as we have seen in the last two games.

Flintoff might have made all the difference in that classic Oval match if he had been around to bowl near the end.

It is encouraging to hear that Freddie may play today and we can only hope this latest problem with his left ankle turns out to be a minor one.

England need him as much as ever, particularly with the ball.

Today is perfectly set up for a fitting finale to the domestic international season. I still feel seven matches are too many for a one-day series and would have preferred an additional Test, but this series has provided a shot in the arm for the 50-over game on the eve of the big Twenty20 event in South Africa next week.

A match that has become a cup final will inevitably bring back memories of the final here at Lord's five years ago between these teams, when India successfully chased 325 to defeat my England side in another classic game similar to the one at The Oval last Wednesday.

When I think back over my career and ponder what I might have done differently at significant times, that match is always foremost in my thoughts. We had India 140 for five, but then along came Yuvraj Singh in partnership with Mohammad Kaif.

I still wonder what might have happened if I had bowled Michael Vaughan at Yuvraj, as I was going to, before he slogged Ashley Giles into the Tavern Stand for six.

If today's game provides anything like the drama of that day, we are in for another treat. Paul Collingwood has captained England very well and he deserves his first major success in charge today.

I think — providing Flintoff is fit and firing — he will get it.