Johnson and Collingwood to get their chance

Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, expressed his satisfaction after their draw against the Bangladesh Board President's XI in Dhaka, and promised a few changes for the next game, against Bangladesh A on Thursday. England ended just one wicket away from victory in their opening tour match and there were encouraging signs for both the batsmen and bowlers. Matthew Hoggard grabbed six wickets and Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty took three each, while Graham Thorpe hit a classy 47.

"Everyone had a bat who we wanted to have a bat," said Fletcher. "And I'm glad the opposition offered stiffer competition in the second innings so the bowlers could get some mileage into them - that's important."

But Fletcher is preparing to make a few changes against Bangladesh A, with Richard Johnson and Paul Collingwood set to play. "Once Andrew Flintoff dropped out of the side, it changed things quite drastically. The back-up seamer [role] is going to cause us some concern as to who we play there," he explained. "We're going to have a look at Johnson because he seems to get added bounce out of a wicket when it doesn't swing. But we're going to have to look at Collingwood as well to see how he bowls on these wickets."

In England's previous trip to the sub-continent, they had Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick to spear-head the bowling, but it is a much more inexperienced attack this time round. "These conditions are very similar to what we encountered in Pakistan and when you come out here you have to learn how to bowl on these wickets," continued Fletcher. "Darren Gough took a whole tour of Pakistan and most of Sri Lanka before he got used to bowling on these wickets. The length you should bowl does change and it's going to take all the bowlers time to adapt."

He added: "We've got quite a problem with selection for that next game, we can't hide away from that, we'll just have to sit down and think about it. We've got to get the balance of the side right for the first Test."