Vaughan braced for Australia test

[Anguillan newsboy]

World Cup warm-up, St Vincent, England v Australia:
Match starts 1330 GMT Friday

England captain Michael Vaughan will field for 20 or 30 overs in Friday's final World Cup warm-up match against Australia in St Vincent.

Ed Joyce will open with Vaughan and England coach Duncan Fletcher hinted he will start instead of Andrew Strauss against New Zealand on 16 March.

Fletcher will also use the 13-a-side match to ***ess his pace options.

Only two from Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson and Jon Lewis are play in their Group C opener.

Interview: England coach Duncan Fletcher Click here

Australia, too, are yet to decide the make-up of their attack and skipper Ricky Ponting said he will give all his seamers seven or eight overs.

One of Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson is set to join Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken in Australia's starting Xl for their Group A opener against Scotland on 14 March.

The game is going to be pretty important but we have still got to use it as a practice
England coach Duncan Fletcher

Vaughan is improving his fitness after knee and hamstring injuries but only fielded for 10 overs in Monday's warm-up win over Bermuda.

And he has not spent 50 overs in the field since a one-day clash with New Zealand on 6 February.

However, England coach Duncan Fletcher did his best to downplay any injury concerns, as well the significance of the game against the Aussies.

"I think he is building up quite nicely," said Fletcher. "From a batting point of view he has batted as much as he could."

"It would be nice to go out there and win another game against Australia, but we have still got to use it as a practice.

"Saying that, if we go in there and win three in a row against Australia, that is going to be very, very important.

"At the moment, Ed Joyce is [ahead of Strauss in the pecking order]. He performed very well in Australia and that's no easy place to perform.

"He showed he's got some character and scored a crucial hundred [against Australia in Sydney].

"We'd like to have a look at our bowlers. It is going to be a difficult decision who we will leave out.

"They will probably do the same as us because I don't know if they've settled on their combinations.

Mahmood and Plunkett finished the one-day series in Australia impressively, but Lewis and Anderson are also back in the reckoning after returning early from Australia.

England beat world champions Australia 2-0 in February's tri-series final and Fletcher said confidence was high.

"The side has got a good buzz about them. There has been a real intensity," he said.