Vaughan confident England are ready

Michael Vaughan spent more useful time in the middle making 32 and feels England are hitting their straps at the right time ahead of the first Test © Getty Images

Michael Vaughan believes England are ready to face Sri Lanka in the first Test at Kandy on Saturday, after watching his side dig deep for a five-wicket victory over the Sri Lanka Board President's XI in Colombo. At one stage in the game, England were facing embarrassment after being bowled out for a mere 134 in their first innings, but they eventually won comfortably thanks to Matthew Hoggard's five-wicket haul and a pair of fifties from Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen.

Vaughan, who has toured Sri Lanka twice before - in 2000-01 and 2003-04 - knows full well the value of a win on the subcontinent. "It's always difficult in this part of the world, so this was a good game of cricket for us to win," he said. "More importantly we feel we've had a good amount of time out in the middle, whether it's bowling or batting. We feel we're in good spirits going into the first Test.

"How much of an impact this result has on the Tests remains to be seen," he added. "But yesterday we were looking like losing, so to come through and win shows a lot of character, which is a good sign for the team. We'd have liked a hundred in this game because there hasn't been one on the trip so far, but everyone's hitting the ball nicely and hopefully they are in good form."

England's preparations have not been without their setbacks, and Vaughan admitted that the back injury that ruled Steve Harmison out of the final two days was "disappointing". He has managed just 16.3 overs in two matches since arriving in the country from South Africa, and remains a major doubt for the opening Test.

Harmison was at least given the all-clear after undergoing a scan at the local hospital, and had been scheduled to bat if needed. "We're going to monitor him over the next 48 hours," said Vaughan. "Yesterday he was moving very gingerly, but today he was moving more freely and was going to go in next, so that's a good sign."

In the absence of both Harmison and James Anderson, it was left to the unlikely pairing of Hoggard and Ravi Bopara to rescue England's fortunes. They did so quite dramatically, with Bopara's performance proving especially timely given England's eagerness to find an alternative allrounder to Andrew Flintoff.

Vaughan, however, would not be drawn on the deliberations faced by the selectors in the coming days, especially as Bopara's rival for the No. 6 slot, Owais Shah, also had a good day with 33 not out. "Ravi's had a good start to the trip, and he's an exciting cricketer," said Vaughan. "But Ace was out there at the end and that time in the middle will be invaluable for him. The final eleven was always going to be a tough one, and that No. 6 position is going to be especially tough whichever way we go."

Numbers 8 to 11 will also be a concern for England, as the tail didn't manage a run between them in the first innings. "It's always something to worry about," said Vaughan. "The guys are working hard in the nets, but facing Murali down the bottom end is always difficult. But we've got to try and get 20 wickets, and I think you have to go in with the four bowlers who will get you those 20 wickets."

Run-scoring is sure to be hard for all batsmen in this series, not just the tail, but Vaughan felt that the lessons learnt in the past week would help no end. "You need to be able to defend more out here, and you need your areas to score," he said. "It's a fine line for batting in all conditions. Their attack is very experienced and disciplined, so there will be times when it's difficult to score, but I'm sure there'll be times we can get on top of them."