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Michael Vaughan has revealed that a decision on the England team for the first Test against Sri Lanka will not be made until next week.

The Yorkshireman has said that this weekend’s final warm-up match before the competitive fixtures begin in Kandy on December 1st will still be used to give some players a chance to stake a claim for the first XI.

Some fringe players, including fast bowler Steve Harmison, will need to impress the selectors in order to earn a place in the team given that there is stiff competition in the pace attack. Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad, Matthew Hoggard and James Anderson are all pushing for places in addition to Harmison, who was a late call-up to the squad after he was asked to prove his fitness during a brief stint in South African domestic cricket.

”It is about trying to balance it right,” Vaughan said of his selection headache. ”There are still a couple of places up for grabs and we have to make sure that, come Kandy on December 1st, we get our XI right.

”So there might be a couple of spaces where we can give players a chance and rest a couple of players who have played a lot of cricket recently. ”But ideally you want to play as many players as possible in this three-day game who are going to be playing in the Test match,” he added.

On the enigmatic Harmison, who is consistently inconsistent on England tours abroad, Vaughan said he expects him to turn in an improved performance after his wicketless spell in the last warm-up game, in which he bowled six no-balls.

”He got six overs and there were signs of promise there,” the captain explained. ”He has had two weeks in South Africa, which have been very productive for him and he will be looking forward to getting into the XI for the three-day game and getting some more overs under his belt,” he added.

Source:Cricket News

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