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LAHORE, Dec 6: England play a one-day practice match against Pakistan ‘A’ at Bagh-i-Jinnah on Wednesday as part of much-needed preparations ahead of the five One-day Internationals against Pakistan.
Marcus Trescothick took over England captaincy after it was learnt here on Tuesday that regular skipper Michael Vaughan will undergo surgery on his injured knee.
The weather prevailing in Lahore currently is cricket-friendly and is likely to give England fair opportunity to have full practice before the one-day series.
The Pakistan selectors, meanwhile, have picked weak squad for Wednesday’s practice match. Pakistan ‘A’ will be led by Test all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who missed the 2-0 Test series victory after being sidelined by an elbow injury.
But having restored to full fitness, Razzaq has been named in the Pakistan squad for the first two ODIs in Lahore on Saturday and Monday. Yasir Hameed and all-rounder Yasir Arafat, who are also in the ODI squad, will represent Pakistan ‘A’.
England have included three specialist one-day players in Kabir Ali, Ian Blackwell and Vikram Solanki while Ian Bell comes in for Vaughan.
The 45-over-a-side match, which will be played with a white-ball, will be supervised by umpires Mohammad Nazir Junior and Iftikhar Malik.
Teams (from):
PAKISTAN ‘A’: Abdul Razzaq (captain), Riffatullah Mohmand, Ashar Zaidi, Yasir Hameed, Bazid Khan, Faisal Iqbal, Yasir Arafat, Imran Tahir, Zulqarnain Haider, Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Khalil, Agha Sabir, Tahir Khan, Riaz Afridi.
ENGLAND: Marcus Trescothick (captain), Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ian Blackwell, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Geraint Jones, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Shaun Udal.
