Caddick boost for battling England

England have the batsman Michael Vaughan and their key strike bowler Andy Caddick available for today's second encounter with Pakistan in the triangular NatWest Series, and can anticipate the return of Graham Thorpe in time for Thursday's day-night match with Australia.

None the less, they find themselves faced with a potential selection dilemma. Vaughan, struck on a finger during net practice on Saturday, emerged with good results from yesterday's precautionary X-ray, which will provide England with the opportunity to strengthen their depleted top-order at Lord's, while Thorpe's injured calf is likely to have healed sufficiently for the left-hander to be considered for Old Trafford on Thursday. Caddick, who has missed England's opening two matches with a stiff back, is fit to return today, probably at the expense of Alan Mullally.

After losing both of those games ­ against Pakistan last Thursday and Australia on Sunday ­ the need to assemble as strong a side as possible today would seem paramount. Another win for Pakistan would inflict an eighth consecutive defeat on England, establishing the current sequence of losses as the national side's worst in limited-overs cricket, and seriously dent any chance of returning to Lord's for the final on Saturday week. There is also the matter of limiting damage to morale ahead of the Ashes.

Yet there are other considerations. Having been inconvenienced already by the absence of captain Nasser Hussain, England will be anxious to avoid risking other important players by selecting them when less than fully fit, particularly when coach Duncan Fletcher's main one-day objective is to develop a side for the next World Cup rather than struggle in pursuit of minor short-term glory.

After the batting of Ben Hollioake and the debutant Owais Shah enabled England to run Australia close before succumbing to the ruthlessness of Steve Waugh and company in the final over at Bristol, the stand-in captain Alec Stewart was willing to pick up that theme, heaping praise on the two youngsters and declaring the match to be "the start of our preparations for South Africa in 2003". If that attitude prevails, Hollioake and Shah may both be asked to continue, although Nick Knight acknowledged the need to strike a balance between present and future interests.

"We are trying to build but we are aware that the defeat on Sunday put us equal with our worst run in one-day cricket," he said. "We know we cannot keep losing and we can't use building a side as an excuse.

"But in one-day cricket it is important to learn how to get the little things right, like batting together with people and getting a good understanding between the wickets.

"The Australian might take two runs where we perhaps would only take one because their batsmen have a great understanding. That is so important in one-day cricket because there is only a small percentage between winning and losing."

* Technology used in tennis to determine whether or not a ball hits a line may soon be used in cricket to crack the problem of no-balls, the English Cricket Board said yesterday, adding that the Cyclops would not be in place until after thorough investigation.

ENGLAND (from): A J Stewart (capt, wkt), M E Trescothick, A D Brown, N V Knight, M P Vaughan, O A Shah, B C Hollioake, D G Cork, M A Ealham, R D B Croft, D Gough, A R Caddick, A D Mullally.

PAKISTAN (from): Waqar Younis (capt), Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Abdur Razzaq, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Rashid Latif (wkt), Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar.