Graham Thorpe provided England with a welcome tonic from two days of suspicion and allegations with a superb demonstration of how to succeed in Pakistan conditions.

Leading the side in the absence of resting captain Nasser Hussain, left-hander Thorpe hit a superb 88 to briefly deflect attention away from under-pressure team-mate Alec Stewart, who has denied allegations that he took money to provide information to a bookmaker seven years ago.

His innings, lasting over three hours and including ten boundaries, gave his team-mates a guide of how to play both the new ball and the spinners and helped England reach a commanding 212 for four at the close of the second day against a Patron's XI.

Having dismissed their opponents for 237 with Matthew Hoggard claiming five for 62, England wanted all their batsmen to have practice against two fast bowlers on the fringe of Pakistan's side and two emerging spinners.

Instead, they witnessed three of their leading batsmen fall in a five- over spell and had to rely on Thorpe's expertise to steer them out of trouble on 52 for three.

Marcus Trescothick paid the penalty for driving away from his body to former Northamptonshire fast bowler Mohammad Akram.

He was caught at slip while Michael Vaughan was surprised by a quick delivery which cut back in and was caught behind off the inside edge.

Even Michael Atherton, normally able to adjust quickly to foreign conditions, pushed too strongly at Mohammad Sami.

He was caught at backward point to give Thorpe the stage to deliver a timely tonic.

Even the introduction of spin pair Mohammad Shafiq and Munir Ansari could not unsettle Thorpe's resolve and he dominated the early stages of his 143-run partnership with Graeme Hick, who again looked shaky when confronted by Pakistan slow bowlers.

Thorpe reached his half-century in 87 deliveries and finally fell seven overs before the close, having hit ten boundaries during his stay of over three hours at the crease by edging Qaiser Abbas to Mohammad Wasim at slip.

Hick, hesitant initially, launched Shafiq, who is moulded in the same style as Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble, for two sixes back over his head and finished unbeaten on 77.

Yorkshire seamer Hoggard had earlier improved his Test selection chances with his first five-wicket haul for England, while Dominic Cork and Trescothick grabbed two wickets apiece as the Patron's XI collapsed from their overnight 188 for five.

Hoggard claimed two wickets inside his first eight balls. He struck with the first delivery of the day to trap left-hander Qaiser Abbas leg before after a superb 71, spanning over two hours at the crease and including nine boundaries.

England's newest fast bowling hope showed his ever-expanding repertoire in his next over, delivering a perfectly-executed slower ball to wreck new batsman Javed Qadeer's stumps.

The tourists were hoping Hoggard would wrap up the rest of the innings quickly.

After some frustrating moments, Cork finally ended the Patron's XI resistance with two late wickets while Trescothick continued his progress into a useful seam option by wrapping up the innings to finish with two for 12.