Board President's XII v England XII, Dhaka, 1st Day

Close England 106 for 1 (Trescothick 49*, Vaughan 36) v Bangladesh Board President's XII
Scorecard

Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan take a breather © Getty Images

It took a while to get up to speed, but England's tour has finally started in earnest. After three days of bus journeys and indoor nets - and a further five-hour mopping-up delay this morning - England were at last reacquainted with the middle of a cricket pitch. They duly won the toss at the Bangabandhu Stadium, and chose to bat first to avoid the perils of a soggy outfield. In the two-and-a-half hours available to them, they made steady process against a willing attack, and closed on 106 for 1.

Thanks to an arrangement with the BCB, the match has been rearranged as a 12-a-side affair to allow maximum practice for all concerned. It meant the game would be stripped of its first-class status, but it at least allowed a run-out for Kent's Martin Saggers, who had been resigned to fetching the drinks all tour but now finds himself ahead of Richard Johnson in the seam-bowling pecking order. The only other selection of note was the preference for Rikki Clarke at No. 6, ahead of Paul Collingwood.

Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick quickly demonstrated that their time in the indoor facilities had not impaired their judgment on turf. They added 77 for the first wicket, after taking their time to get the feel of the pitch. Vaughan unfurled his cover-drive to excellent effect, rattling up six fours before he edged an off-stump delivery from Anwar Hossain Monir to the wicketkeeper, plain Anwar Hossain this time, for 36.

Trescothick thought he had brought up his fifty in the final over of the day, but was later docked a run by the scorers. He had bludgeoned the spinner Enamul Haque for a huge six over long-on, and thumped five fours as well, including a bullet of a pull-shot off Gazi Alamgir. He was partnered to the end by Mark Butcher, who started confidently with a cover-drive that - like many other shots - would have been four on a drier ground. He was, however, fortunate to survive a stumping chance when he had made 5.

As England have quickly discovered, Bangladesh is a country where patience is a necessity, rather than a virtue, but they will be satisfied with their first meaningful outing of the tour. Although Dhaka's streets were uncannily quiet - because of the Muslim festival of Shabi-Barat - by stumps the crowd had swelled to something in the region of 8000.

England XII 1 Michael Vaughan (capt), 2 Marcus Trescothick, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain, 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Gareth Batty, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Matthew Hoggard, 12 Martin Saggers.

BCB President's XII 1 Hannan Sarkar (capt), 2 Nafees Iqbal, 3 Aftab Ahmed, 4 Moniuzzaman, 5 Mushfiqur Rahman, 6 Nadif Chowdhury, 7 Anwar Hossain (wk), 8 Enamul Haque jr, 9 Anwar Hossain Monir, 10 Gazi Alamgir, 11 Abul Bashar, 12 Ashfiqur Rahman.

Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo. He will be accompanying England throughout their travels in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.