"We will probably play our Test XI in the side match against Pakistan A, because it is the only game we have now before the first match in Multan," England captain Michael Vaughan said.

England play Pakistan A in Lahore in a three-day game starting on Sunday and will hope to improve on their woeful batting in the opener against the Pakistan Cricket Board Patron's XI in Rawalpindi this week.

In that match top order batsmen Vaughan, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen failed in both innings.

Experienced opener Marcus Trescothick played two unbeaten innings of 124 and 38 before frontline spinner Ashley Giles and fast rising pacer Liam Plunkett took four wickets apiece to pull off an unlikely 52-run win.

"We want more time in the middle but we obviously know that Test match cricket mentally is totally different," said Vaughan, whose team take on Pakistan in the first Test from November 12.

"We seem to have done pretty well, though, and I don't see it as a massive worry because the mentality is totally different at Test level."

England have been boosted by the arrival of allrounder Andrew Flintoff and pacer Steve Harmison in Pakistan on Thursday.

But new-ball bowler Matthew Hoggard, batsman Pietersen, and spinners Shaun Udal and Alex Loudon may be rested because they are suffering from assorted viral throat and stomach problems.

"All these four have been suffering from illness but hopefully they will recover in a few days. All four may be rested," said coach Duncan Fletcher.

"The Lahore game will be a big one, because everyone will be together -- and it gives Freddie (Flintoff) and Harmy (Harmison) a chance to play in these conditions," added Fletcher.

Pakistan A are led by Hasan Raza, also in Pakistan's 16-man squad for the first two Tests, and have seven Test players.

Teams from:
England: M. Vaughan (capt), A. Strauss, M. Trescothick, I. Bell, K. Pietersen, A. Flintoff, G. Jones (wkt), A. Giles, A. Loudon, S. Udal, S. Harmison, L. Plunkett, M. Hoggard, P. Collingwood, M. Prior (wkt), J. Anderson

Pakistan A: Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Shahid Yousuf, Hasan Raza (capt), Faisal Athar, Mansoor Amjad, Amin-ur-Rehman (wkt), Arshad Khan, Mohammad Asif, Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Khalil, Rizwan Ahmed, Junaid Zia, Usman Tariq

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)