Mustard cut short in Colombo

Phil Mustard struggled to make an impression as England struggled to exploit the fielding restrictions in their warm-up match against a Sri Lankan Board XI.

The Durham wicketkeeper-batsman, called up into the squad after Matt Prior broke his right thumb, earned his selection because of the aggressive strokeplay he had demonstrated in domestic cricket.

But Mustard failed to repeat the form which enabled him to average 47 in domestic one-day cricket and was dismissed for 17 as England reached 59 for one after the first 15 overs of their innings.

Mustard was given his chance at the top of the order after England had unexpectedly been able to pronounce a clean bill of health despite a stomach virus sweeping through their squad.

Captain Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook and Luke Wright all contracted the illness and were regarded as doubtful for England's only warm-up match before the start of the five-match series against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Monday.

All of them were able to shrug off their complaints to take their place in England's line-up, however, in a flexible match where both sides are able to use up to 15 players.

Having won the toss and decided to bat, England showed little signs of exploiting the fielding restrictions and scored just six runs in the first four overs.

Mustard looked particularly nervous and took 15 deliveries to get off the mark, clipping seamer Sujeewa de Silva for three with a square drive.

He hit two boundaries in his 28-ball innings but, perhaps frustrated at his inability to score at his usual strike rate, attempted to force the pace and was caught at mid-on attempting to hit over the top.

Ian Bell also found scoring difficult when he replaced Mustard at the crease and took nine balls to get off the mark, but Cook gradually found his fluency and was unbeaten on 35 at the 15-over mark.