Injuries plague England

KARACHI, DEC 6: Captain Nasser Hussain told Reuters on Thursday: Michael is 90 per cent fit when batting and 80 per cent fit while field...

KARACHI, DEC 6: Captain Nasser Hussain told Reuters on Thursday: “Michael is 90 per cent fit when batting and 80 per cent fit while fielding. He would probably go through a county game. But not a Test match.”

Wicket-keeper Alec Stewart is a slight doubt but according to Hussain has a 99 per cent chance of playing in Karachi.

Hussain said: “Alec has got a bit of tennis elbow. At the moment, he says he has a one per cent chance he will not be fit on the morning.

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“We have, therefore, delayed announcing our side because he (Stewart) affects the balance of our side.”

It looked likely that Hussain would keep faith with Worcestershire’s Graeme Hick who has scores of 16,14, 18 and zero in this series.

“In back-to-back Tests, you don’t make wholesale changes. Graeme had a difficult time but he is a good compact player,” Hussain said.

Hussain will not only be concerned with Hick’s form but also his own and that of wrist spinner Ian Salisbury.

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Hussain has scores of seven, zero (retired hurt), 23 and five. He has yet to complete 800 runs in 24 first-class matches this year. Salisbury has picked up just one wicket in two Tests.

Teams (from):

England: N Hussain (captain), M Atherton, M Trescothick, G Thorpe, A Stewart, G Hick, C White, A Giles, I Salisbury, A Caddick, D Gough, M Hoggard, A Flintoff, P Nixon.

Pakistan: Moin Khan (captain), Saeed Anwar, Salim Elahi, Imran Nazir, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Qaisar Abbas, Faisal Iqbal, Abdur Razzaq, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Arshad Khan, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Afridi, Naumanullah.