England enter today's opening Test against Pakistan with injuries still clouding their selection plans after another setback yesterday.
Less than eight hours after landing in Pakistan as cover for injuries which were troubling Michael Vaughan and captain Nasser Hussain, who has since overcome his back trouble, Andrew Flintoff temporarily joined the casualty list.
Coming to the end of his batting session facing local net bowlers, Flintoff mistimed a hook and the ball found the gap in his helmet and hit him on the nose, causing blood to stream down his face.
He was sent to hospital and X-rays confirmed he had sustained only bruising, but with Vaughan (calf) and Dominic Cork (back) already ruled out, and Craig White still feeling his hamstring strain, another serious injury would have further restricted England's selection options.
''I was facing a net bowler at the end of practice who wasn't that quick. But I went to hook a short ball and it looped up off the bat and hit me between the grill and helmet,'' explained Flintoff.
''There was a lot of blood and it's pretty badly bruised but I should be OK if I'm required, although we'll have to see how it is in the morning. I'm really pleased to be back and I feel very refreshed after two weeks at home.''
Flintoff's nasty blow was compounded by him having to sleep on the floor of a team-mate's room after his arrival at the England hotel at 4am local time because his own room was not ready. Yet he has still been named in the 12-man squad for the Test.
''It's sod's law that the person we fly out as cover misses one of the last two balls of his net and gets hit in the nose,'' said Hussain.
''That's the way things are going at the moment, but it's not a problem because he's a big strong lad.''
All-rounder White has recovered slightly from his hamstring strain and could play an important part on a wicket Hussain rates as ''a two-spinner pitch''.
Hussain explained: ''He's the same as he's been throughout the tour. He's fit to play but he's feeling his hamstring a little. He's been like that for a while and bowled pretty well.''
Whatever selection formula England decide upon, Hussain believes the players chosen face one of their biggest challenges since he took charge alongside coach Duncan Fletcher just over a year ago.
''This will be the biggest test for us for a long time because of how alien it is to what we play on,'' he said.
''We've set ourselves up nicely, we've prepared well and we have to look at it as a big challenge.
''It's completely different to everything we've had before so as a team and a group it will be interesting to see how people cope with it.
''This Pakistan side have got everything - spin, pace, reverse swing - they're an excellent team and we have to learn from them.''
Hussain added: ''The next 15 days of Test cricket are going to be a test for everyone. There will be men around the bat, pressure on batsmen when they first go in and pressure when one of their batsmen gets in on a good wicket and plays through the line.
''It's going to be about bottle when we're under a bit of pressure and we don't know where the next run is coming from, or when one of our bowlers delivers a good ball and watches it disappear over his head for a boundary. We have to be able to cope with that.''
Michael Atherton enters the Test relishing the opportunity to get the better of an old friend he rates as ''one of the best left-armers the world has ever seen''.
For the best part of a decade, Atherton has enjoyed the company of Wasim Akram in the Old Trafford dressing room and is looking forward to their next duel in international cricket.
They will face up to each other again, probably for the last time at the start of a series, with Wasim as determined to claim Atherton's wicket as England's opener is to score his first century against a bowler he rates among the best.
''I'm looking forward to locking horns with Wasim again,'' admitted Atherton. ''We are very good friends, but it will be hard work when we play against each other and there will be no love lost.
''He's been one of the finest cricketers over the years and certainly one of the best left-armers the world has seen. He's getting towards the end of his career now and he's lost a little of his pace, but he's got all the tricks and guile and is a formidable opponent.''
Atherton will no doubt have reminded Wasim of one of their last encounters, when he decided to utilise his leg-spin as the Headingley Test meandered towards a draw and trapped Wasim leg before.
Wasim, though, is still ahead in their duel, having claimed Atherton's wicket four times in the ten innings in which they have faced each other, while the England opener has never scored a century in those matches and averages just 30.
''He's a very different bowler to people like Curtly Ambrose and Glenn McGrath who are very accurate, put the ball on a length and give you nothing,'' said Atherton.
''Wasim will give you a lot of bouncers and yorkers but very little in between.
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