Fletcher rues the two one-day washouts

After their short and soggy one-day international series against Sri Lanka, England now turn their attention to the three-Test series, starting at Galle on December 2.

However, after the last two ODIs were wiped out by the bad weather, Duncan Fletcher has warned that the squad are under-prepared for the Tests. And with only one three-day match against a Sri Lanka Cricket President's XI on Wednesday before the first Test, Fletcher is understandably concerned about England's lack of match practice.

"We want the Test-playing guys to get a good three-day game and the practice in, so there is concern that the rain could leave us a little unprepared," said Fletcher. "Our plan for this week's game was going to be to leave out Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick, but because of the weather Michael now wants to reconsider that."

The specialist Test players - Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Mark Butcher, Geraint Jones, Matthew Hoggard and Robert Croft - arrived in Sri Lanka three days ago and have been practising on their own. All apart from Jones are expected to play in the warm-up match, with Croft, in particular, eager to prove his worth and fight Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty for a place in the Test side.

"He has come out here and joined the squad with the other spinners," Fletcher said, "obviously the other two have got the inside rail at the moment and we will have to make an assessment after the three-day game."

The good news for England is that James Anderson is now walking without crutches and there is a slim possibility he may now be in contention for Galle.