Hick and Vaughan fight for six appeal

Only an individual performance of awesome authority over the next four days can stop England from being forced into making a gut decision between Graeme Hick and Michael Vaughan.

Both batsmen have put a decent score on the board already this trip yet, barring a major shift in tactics, only one of them will be able to play in next week's First Test against Sri Lanka at Galle.

England were prevented from choosing between the two in Pakistan before Christmas because Vaughan was never fit enough to take part in a major match.

Now, though, he has fully recovered from a frustratingly persistent calf injury and is once again pushing hard for Hick's place at No 6.

There are arguments for and against both players - and it will need something extra special from one of them during this week's final warm-up match here, starting tomorrow, to end the debate.

One theory is that England should make up their minds now and play only their chosen man against another strong-looking President's XI. But if he failed badly in both innings they could regret that bold statement of faith.

The tourists will not name a squad for tomorrow's game until this evening. Last night, though, it seemed likely both Hick and Vaughan would play, thereby prolonging discussion for at least another four days.

Hick appears to hold a slight edge at the moment.

He had a poor tour of Pakistan until his very last innings. Walking out to bat at Karachi with the light fading, Hick's failure to reach even 20 in two-and-a-half Tests offered England little hope.

But, with his international obituary already written and waiting to be printed, the 34-year-old produced a crucial knock of 40 to help set up a stunning victory.

England coach Duncan Fletcher refers to that innings whenever Hick's ability is questioned.

In addition, the Worcestershire batsman has, on occasions, shown he can prosper against top-class spin whereas the vast majority of Vaughan's Test runs have been taken off pace bowling.

At the age of 26, though, Vaughan is the future whereas Hick may never significantly improve a deeply disappointing average of 32 after 63 Tests.

Vaughan, who has had cruel luck with injuries since making his England debut on last winter's tour of South Africa, was favourite to be given the No 6 slot in Pakistan until pulling a calf muscle.

On this trip, the Yorkshire batsman struck an early blow by making 57 to Hick's 15 in the first innings of last week's game in Colombo.

Second time around, though, Hick more than reversed the situation by contributing 75 after Vaughan had fallen for a duck.

There is no doubt England will face plenty more spin bowling in this four-day game.

Sri Lanka may be unimaginative when it comes to naming their invitation sides - this team, like last week's, is called the President's XI - but they reveal plenty of talent in the field of unearthing slow bowlers.

They challenged England with two impressive spinners in Colombo and could stretch them further here by selecting an even more potent mix.

Left-armer Niroshan Bandarati-lake and leg-spinner Malinga Bandara have both played Test cricket while there are high hopes in these parts for student off-spinner Muthumudalige Pushpakumara.

Matara is not an international venue on this tour but it is famous in Sri Lankan cricket as the home town of national captain Sanath Jayasuriya.

By asking England to play their last match here before the First Test the host authorities have made it easy for their skipper to undertake a spying mission, should he so choose after returning from New Zealand this week.