Butcher still hopes to play at Manchester

England are hoping that Mark Butcher will be able to play in the final Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford. Butcher wore heavy strapping on his left knee when England trained today, but came through without apparent discomfort.

"The news about Butcher is encouraging," said an England spokesman. "We will reassess the situation in the morning."

If Butcher doesn't make it, England have a tailor-made replacement in John Crawley, who's used to batting at number three and is an accomplished player of spin bowling.

"I am obviously desperate to play," Crawley said today. "It has always been a dream since March when things turned round for me to come back here and play a Test match.

"After making the decision in the winter that I could not play here any more, I still had plenty of ambitions and dreams to come back here. At the start of the season that was just to come back here with Hampshire, but things have moved on a lot quicker than that."

Although it took Crawley months to extricate himself from his Lancashire contract following his replacement as captain over the winter, eventually joining Hampshire, he bears no ill-will towards his old club and hopes to have some support on his old ground.

"During my time here I had a lot of support from players and members, so it will be a little bit emotional for me if I do stride out here," he said. "It is an opportunity for the crowd here to see my play again and for my family to see me play up here again as well."

"My dad is the only one who is still in this area, but whether he will come along or not is up to him," said Crawley. "I think he was a bit shaken up about what happened in the winter. It is worse in a way because he could not actually put himself in a position to do anything."

"The problems I have had here have stemmed from a very small minority of people. It is a big ground, and I hope I will not come across those people.

"I don't really know what to expect. All I can say is I had many good memories here and many good years and I am very much looking forward to going out there and playing a Test match."