England practice halted by driver's bereavement

At least the rain stopped yesterday. But that was the only good news available for England's cricketers, who found themselves unable to make it onto a playing field for the third consecutive day. This time, however, they couldn't even make the 75-minute trip to the indoor facilities at the BKSP sports academy, because of the death of their coach driver's father late on Thursday night.

With most of the Muslim population devoting themselves to Friday prayers, it proved impossible to find a replacement driver at such short notice. But given the state of Dhaka's roads, England would probably have been quite relieved not to be subjected to the whims of a novice behind the wheel of their coach.

On a muggy but drizzle-free day (to use the local vernacular, in which a torrential downpour counts as a light shower), England were at least able to set foot onto the hotel tennis courts for some fitness drills. They then travelled the short distance to the national hockey stadium, which is situated right next to the waterlogged Bangabandhu, where it is hoped that the first practice match - against the Bangladesh Cricket Board President's XI - will get under way on Sunday.

Given the condensed nature of the tour, the team that is selected for that match is likely to be a fair reflection of the intended Test side. "In 10 days' time, fingers crossed, I'm going to be playing a Test match and I'm pretty excited by it," said Chris Read, who is the front-runner for the wicketkeeping spot that Alec Stewart finally vacated in September. "But I've not even seen a pitch yet."

England's only other selection dilemma pits Rikki Clarke against Paul Collingwood for the pivotal No. 6 slot, a position that has been left open by Andrew Flintoff's late withdrawal with a groin strain.