Read jogs the selectors' memory

England A 530 for 9 (Read 120*, Broad 29*) v Pakistanis
Scorecard

Chris Read's century nudged the selectors ahead of the first Test © Getty Images

After Rob Key's century yesterday, it was Chris Read's turn to send a message to the selectors on the second day at Canterbury, as he bolstered England A's lower-order with a finely crafted century. After the loss of three wickets in the first hour's play, Read joined Alex Loudon (51) to add 102 for the seventh wicket, as Pakistan's problems were compounded by another untimely injury.

Yesterday, their first-choice wicketkeeper, Kamran Akmal, sustained an injury to his left index finger, and today he was joined on the sidelines by their leading strike bowler, Mohammad Asif, who sent down just five overs before leaving the field with an injury to his right elbow. However, Pakistan's tour manager, Zaheer Abbas, insisted Asif would be available for selection come Thursday's first Test at Lord's.

In his absence, Pakistan's attack was led by the legspinner, Danish Kaneria, who wheeled away for almost 50 overs for figures of 4 for 148. It was their seamers, however, who made the initial inroads, as Key lost his off stump to Adbul Razzaq for 136, Ravi Bopara holed out to cover off Mohammad Sami for 15 and Jamie Dalrymple was pinned lbw for 1, also by Sami.

England A had lost 3 for 15 in the first hour's play, but with the weather looking unsettled, Read and Loudon regrouped impressively. Read, who played the last of his 11 Tests against West Indies in Barbados over two years ago, stole a march on his England rival, Geraint Jones, who plays his county cricket at Canterbury. Though Jones is perceived to be the superior batsman, his performances have slipped away in recent months, and Read's superb marshalling of the tail will not have gone unnoticed.

He was stuck on 91 when joined by the last man, Stuart Broad, but kept his composure to clobber Imran Farhat through the covers to reach a 140-ball hundred. By the time play was suspended for bad light, the pair were still together, with the 19-year-old Broad growing in stature on 29 not out.

England are set to name their Test squad on Sunday morning, but Read's name is unlikely to feature, regardless of this innings. England's selectors are known for their loyalty, and Jones's experience in last summer's pressure-cooker atmosphere will doubtless count in his favour, especially given the number of injury absentees that England are having to cover for.

"People keep talking about making statements to selectors but I'm not trying to make any sort of statement I'm trying to play good cricket," Read told reporters after stumps. "A criticism in the past was that I got out too often in the 60s and 70s but this year my conversion rate when I've got in has been pretty good, so I was happy to go on and get three figures today.

"The only reason I was axed [from the England team] was a lack of runs and in the last two years I've done a lot of work to get my batting up to scratch."

Play was halted at 12pm local time (1100GMT) for Britain's national two-minute silence marking the first anniversary of the London terror bombings. Players from both sides lined up on the outfield while spectators stood.