The England camp will approach the First Test against Sri Lanka full of confidence, and close to full fitness.

With Ashley Giles able to resume bowling, and Graeme Hick said to have made a full recovery, England have plenty of options to choose from when picking a team. With all the batsmen benefiting from prolonged spells at the crease and all the bowlers in the wickets, the selectors will have plenty to mull over in the next few days.

"We tested Ashley out today and we'll test him out in the nets again, but everything looks fine with him," confirmed Nasser Hussain. "We'll keep an eye on him and Graeme Hick but as they stand now they are both fit and available for selection, although there's a danger of us all waking up tomorrow and being a bit stiff."

England have received an extra boost in the form of Michael Vaughan's bowling. Following on from his match figures of 4-11 in Colombo last week, he took a further 3-25 on the final day in Matara to stake his claim as an all-rounder.

That presents the England camp with a welcome problem; with so many options, who are they to leave out?

What had appeared to be a contest between Hick and Vaughan for the final batting place, has now opened into a wider debate: perhaps both can play, combining to fill the second spinner position, particularly if Giles suffers a recurrence of his Achilles problem.

Hoggard has again demanded attention, with 3-28 in the first-innings in Matara. Though Gough, Caddick and White are still likely to form the seam attack, Hoggard's form does provide welcome back-up.

"Everyone in the squad who has played a game has thrown in a performance and said 'pick me'," agreed Nasser Hussain, "and it's up to myself and Duncan to sit down and make those decisions. "A lot of good things happened today and I'd rather be in this sort of position going into a Test match where you've got to make some harsh decisions than the other way when you're scratching around to find an XI.

"Apart from a couple of niggles we've had this week, everything had gone exactly to plan and we couldn't have asked for better cricket.

"Everyone's all-round game is a consideration, which is the way Duncan (Fletcher) and I have built his squad in the last year. We want 11 people contributing all the way down the order so obviously Vaughan's bowling comes into it, but so does everybody else's."

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