Rashid calm ahead of final audition

England begin a week of making the best of their limited preparation ahead of the Test series against Pakistan with the first of two two-day practice matches against Pakistan A in Sharjah on Monday. With a couple of spots in the Test XI yet to be rubberstamped there are still some players with more to lose than others.

The aim is to give all 16 of the squad some game time over the four days. The play-off for the opening berth between Alex Hales and Moeen Ali has already had a lengthy billing: whether the man with first dibs offers a clue remains to be seen.

Then there is the role of second spinner. Trevor Bayliss has all-but assured Adil Rashid of a Test debut, but Bayliss' reference point when it comes to eye-witness knowledge of Rashid is purely his ODI performances against Australia where he claimed seven wickets in five matches. Successful - or at least solid - returns against Pakistan A would remove any lingering doubts over him partnering Moeen in Abu Dhabi, but the England selectors have already been spooked once this year by an unconvincing return from Rashid in a practice match.

Ahead of the West Indies series in April, they had a similar split of two, slightly farcical, two-day matches against a St Kitts Invitational XI - a side so weak that it was bolstered by England players for the second game. In the second match, Rashid claimed 1 for 85 off 20 wayward overs as his Yorkshire team-mates, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, made 98 and 87 respectively.

Rashid was not picked for the first Test in Antigua - where England failed to bowl out West Indies in more than four sessions - and when it came to the final Test, on a pitch in Barbados that screamed out for another spinner, Rashid was ignored.

This time, with Bayliss a strong advocate and England's more aggressive mindset instilled by Ashes success, it would probably have to go extraordinarily wrong for Rashid to bowl himself out of the Test debut. However, the significance of the next few days has not escaped him.

"It's quite a big game for me, and I hope I can go out there and do the things I do for Yorkshire - keeping it simple and looking to attack," he said. "That's what I'm planning to do tomorrow and if I get the call later as well.

"I feel ready, as if my game is coming along. My job is to get in the team to create chances, and be that wicket-taker. I'm looking to be aggressive, and positive. My mindset's quite positive, I'm not looking to take any pressure in, I'm there as a strike bowler."

Rashid is benefiting from a more receptive outlook to his talents from Bayliss, plus the defining of his attacking role, and the endorsement of his credentials very early in the tour has been significant.

"Trevor's always given me that backing and confidence, especially around the one-day side and in the nets," Rashid said. "He's always talking to me and giving me that backing so for him to say that [about a Test debut] you know is very exciting and given me a real confidence booster."

The spinners will be expected - and required - to bowl long spells during the Test series if the heat remains anything like it has been during the early days of England's stay in the UAE. Although it may have cooled a little by the first Test, figures around the mid-30s are very likely meaning that the quick bowlers will have to be carefully managed through short spells. England could play four fast bowlers to try and spread the workload especially as economy is not the natural strength of either Rashid or Moeen.

"Seamers have got to run in this heat, 45 degrees or whatever, and bowl four or five over spells, that's going to be tough work," Rashid said. "Then the batsmen are going to have to make the big hundreds, the 150s, they've got to concentrate as well and the spinners often have to bowl ten, fifteen, or twenty overs and they've got to concentrate. So I think it's every single individual there, you've got to concentrate and it's going to be tough work for everybody."

The Pakistan A squad includes two players already part of the Test squad. They are captained by left-arm quick Junaid Khan while Fawad Alam is pushing for a recall six years after playing his previous Test but is not expected to squeeze into the starting XI at the beginning of the series.

When the Pakistan squad was named, the chief selector Haroon Rashid said a 16th spot had been left free to be filled based on performances in these two matches with either Zafar Gohar or Mohammad Asghar, both left-arm spinners, vying for the place although the likelihood of that now appears to have receded.

England squad Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Joe Root, James Taylor, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Samit Patel, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Liam Plunkett

Pakistan A Junaid Khan (capt), Sami Asalm, Khurrum Manzoor, Fawad Alam, Umar Amin, Asad Asad, Ifftikhar Ahmed, Usman Salahuddin, Adnan Akmal (wk), Mohammad Asghar, Zafar Gohar, Ehsan Adil, Zia-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza