England players tune up at the Eden

Kolkata, January 15: After complaining for days about the poor practice facilities at the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club grounds, the England team today had their first work-out in the historic Eden Gardens amidst stringent security ahead of their January 19 inaugural day-night limited over tie against India.

The visitors, who had been crying hoarse with their demand that they be allowed to tune up at the Eden, seemed greatly enthusiastic as they settled for an extended net session at the giant stadium since afternoon.

While choosing to work on their fielding and bowling in sunlight, the Nasser Hussain-led side opted to bat under the floodlights to get a feeling of the real match situation.

The English batsmen continued rehearsing the reverse sweep, a shot they seem to be banking on to upset the line and length of the formidable Indian spinners.

Tight security arrangements were made at the venue, with a large posting of policemen in and around the stadium.

Even media persons had to watch the proceedings from the galleries and they were allowed into the ground only in the evening for the press conference.

Pacers Darren Gough, who has already served a warning to the Indian batsmen and his new ball partner Andy Caddick bowled full blast for long spells. Speedster Matthew Hoggard, who did reasonably well in the test series last month taking nine wickets, also had a long session.

In the fielding department, the visitors continued their emphasis on perfecting their catching abilities. The running between the wickets was another area which was practiced at length.

Meanwhile, the tempo for the match heightened with the arrival of four of the Indian players - new stumper Ajay Ratra, off-spinners Sarandeep Singh and Harbhajan Singh and veteran pacer Javagal Srinath - in the city during the day.

The other members of the side are expected to reach here by tomorrow morning.