Cricket: Butcher has grit for pace

MARK BUTCHER will not let his injury worries allow him to be intimidated when he faces two of the fastest bowlers on the Australian stage at the Adelaide Oval this weekend.

The Surrey left-hander unwittingly provided England with living proof of the uncompromising force they must overcome if they are to regain the Ashes this winter by marking the WACA pitch in Perth with his blood, having been hit above the right eye on Sunday after ducking into a Matt Nicholson delivery.

He needed 10 stitches in the wound, returning to fielding drills only yesterday when he collided with Peter Such and ended with a matching cut above his left eye. But neither of the injuries will shake Butcher from his appetite for fast bowling, his willingness to take on the world's fastest, and it is with that attitude he prepares to tackle Mark Harrity and Jason Gillespie as England's build-up to the first Test gains momentum with a four-day game against South Australia starting this weekend.

"I like playing fast bowling - it suits my game," Butcher said. "I would have thought they will test me out after the way I got my injury, but I'm sure they would have done that anyway. It wasn't like they had peppered me for half an hour with short balls, I made a mistake by ducking into a ball which wasn't really short enough."

Butcher is expected to take his place at the top of the order at the Adelaide Oval, while Mike Atherton has recovered from the bruised right hip which forced his withdrawal from last week's draw against Western Australia.

The captain, Alec Stewart, another late withdrawal in Perth with a stiff back, should stiffen the batting order and, after his first-innings century at the WACA, Nasser Hussain is expected to be rested to allow Mark Ramprakash - providing he overcomes a cold - and John Crawley to play.

The wicketkeeper Warren Hegg will step down for Stewart's return and, after their impressive displays in Perth, Darren Gough and Alan Mullally are likely to sit out to allow Dean Headley and Alex Tudor to form a seam attack alongside Angus Fraser and Dominic Cork. Robert Croft will also sit it out and provide Such with his first outing since England's opening one-run victory over an ACB Chairman's XI at Lilac Hill.

Gillespie has not played at international level since claiming a seven- wicket haul at Headingley in August, 1997 during the last Ashes series after a stress fracture of the back, a heal and groin injury but will be keen to make a good impression, having had his action remodelled by Dennis Lillee. The same applies to Greg Blewett, who has lost ground to Justin Langer and Darren Lehmann in the pecking order, while South Australia have included the young leg-spinner, Evan Arnold, in their squad to give the touring party their first chance to practise against wrist spin ahead of their likely confrontation with Stuart MacGill in the first Test at Brisbane on 20 November.

MacGill is likely to play in the first three Tests at least, as Shane Warne is likely be unavailable until at least the third Test to give him time to recover from his shoulder operation.

ENGLAND: M A Butcher, M A Atherton, J P Crawley, *A J Stewart, G P Thorpe, M R Ramprakash, D G Cork, D W Headley, A R C Fraser, A J Tudor, P M Such.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA (from): *G S Blewett, M P Faull, C J Davies, G R Parker, N T Adcock, T J Nielsen, M A Harrity, A Crook, E Arnold, P Wilson, B A Johnson, J N Gillespie.