Trescothick to lead England in warm-up

Marcus Trescothick will captain England against the Nicky Oppenheimer XI on Wednesday in the first warm-up match ahead of the Test series against South Africa which starts later this month.

Michael Vaughan, who led the side to the recent 4-0 series whitewash against Zimbabwe, has been rested.

The eight Test specialists who have linked up are also in the line-up. Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison will gain some vital match practice while Chris Read has been handed the gloves as Geraint Jones is rested.

Harmison, who returns to action after three months off, told BBC Sport: "I bowled off a full run for the first time yesterday and it felt good."

England team for first match
1 Marcus Trescothick (capt), 2 Robert Key, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Graham Thorpe, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Gareth Batty, 9 Simon Jones, 10 Matthew Hoggard, 11 Stephen Harmison.