November 02 Saturday 2002
Vaughan to test injured knee against Queensland

BRISBANE: Michael Vaughan, one of England's key players for the upcoming Ashes battle with Australia, will test his injured knee against Queensland in a three-day tour game starting here on Saturday. 

The Yorkshire opener says the only way to improve his knee before next Thursday's opening Test at the Gabba here was to play against Queensland's strong bowling attack, featuring Michael Kasprowicz, Ashley Noffke and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz. 

Australian cricket fans are waiting for their first look at the 28-year-old right-hander, who comes here with a big reputation but has never faced Australia's bowlers in Test cricket. 

"It's going to be new to me. I've watched video tapes and spoken to some of the guys who have faced them but I can't say how I'm going to face them until I get out there," Vaughan said on Friday. "I'm 75 percent fit at the moment and the only way I'm going to get better is by playing. "I'm not sure what the selectors will do but I'm very keen to play tomorrow. 

"We know that Queensland are a very strong team and it's a great platform going into what's going to be a very good (Test) series." 

Selectors have to decide on the fitness of Lancashire allrounder Andrew Flintoff, who is recovering from a hernia operation, and whether to play young Kent batsman Robert Key ahead of John Crawley in the full dress rehearsal for the Test. 

Vaughan, opening partner Marcus Trescothick and experienced No.3 Mark Butcher shape as important scoring weapons in England's quest to win back the Ashes this summer. The tourists will get a solid idea of where they stand when they meet a Queensland team stacked with players boasting international experience. 

Captain Jimmy Maher, Andrew Symonds and Hauritz have played one-day internationals in the last two months while veteran Stuart Law, a former Test batsmen, has seen plenty of the English squad during seven consecutive seasons in county cricket. 

But England won't get a clear idea of the likely conditions at the Gabba next week, even though Border Field and the Test venue are not that far apart. The pitch at Border Field is generally regarded as a slower surface than the Gabba, where Queensland has been reluctant to play spinners during its domination of interstate cricket in the last decade. 

"Every different ground and venue has a different surface and we get used to playing on them so it's not that much of a deal," Vaughan said. "We're pretty confident because we gained some momentum (against Western Australia) last week and we have to continue it here but we realise we're up against a good team." 

Australian Test players Matthew Hayden and Andrew Bichel were unavailable for Queensland, with the national squad assembling in Brisbane on Sunday. Experienced wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe, who was an Ashes tourist last year, is expected to play despite receiving four stitches above his left eye during a fielding accident on Friday. 

Queensland: Jimmy Maher (capt), Brendan Nash, Martin Love, Stuart Law, Andrew Symonds, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Hauritz, Michael Kasprowicz, Joe Dawes, Damien MacKenzie (likely 12th man). 

England (likely): Nasser Hussain (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher, Robert Key, Alec Stewart, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Andrew Caddick, Stephen Harmison (12th man to be named).