England wait on Harmison

Steve Harmison © Getty Images

England's selectors will have to wait until the end of the week before finding out whether Steve Harmison will be fit for the second Test which starts at Edgbaston in eight days.

Harmison will play for Durham against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge today, but Duncan Fletcher, England's coach, has made it clear that he will not rush him back from his shin injury.

"Hopefully he'll be fit for the next Test but we just have to be careful about his fitness," said Fletcher. "There is a lot of cricket ahead and if we rush him and there is a problem we're only going to have to rest him again later on. He's only played one one-day game so far after two months off, so we will have to see how fit he is. There's a good chance he'll be called up into the squad and we will analyse him, but he's only got one four-day game to get himself right."

Unless England go with an all-seam attack, Harmison's return will mean that either Sajid Mahmood or Liam Plunkett misses out. Fletcher was keen to praise both. "I thought Plunkett bowled really well after his first spell, when he was probably nervous," he said. "Mahmood showed us he had raw pace, which is what we're looking for. He reverse-swung it and gives the attack a bit of balance if players like Simon Jones aren't there."