England determined to play in Test series

Abu Dhabi: The determination of the England team to play in the Test series against India was evident on Friday at the Shaikh Zayed cricket stadium.

Despite reaching their hotel rooms only at around 5am, all the players assembled at the cricket stadium by 1pm for training.

Speaking to Gulf News, Andrew Walpole, the media manager of the England team said: "Hugh Morris of England Cricket Board and Sean Morris of Professional Cricketers Association have flown to India to assess the security situation and we are expecting them to be here by Sunday. Till their arrival the team will practice here for the Test series."

"There are 13 players from the Test squad and ten players from the performance squad. They will train here till Sunday," he said.

Youngsters cheer squad

The players from the performance squad here are Ravi Bopara (Essex), M.A.Davies (Durham), R. H. Joseph (Kent), A. Khan (Kent), Sajid Mahmoud (Lancashire), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), OP Rayner (Sussex), A Richardson (Middlesex) and AU Rashid (Yorkshire).

"We will practice in the morning and afternoon tomorrow but we will not play any practice matches here," said Walpole.

The England players asked for SG balls for practice. "They wanted SG balls as the Test match in India will be played with this ball. We immediately got it from AJ Sports in Sharjah," said Shahnawas Hakkim, the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council official.

Young cricketers from the British School cheered the England players from the stands. Skipper Kevin Pietersen acknowledged their cheers by waving his bat towards them.