Brown to make England debut against Colts XI

Off spinner Jason Brown will play his first match for England tomorrow as the team rests four players in the one-day game against a Sri Lanka Colts XI in Kurunegala.

Brown was drafted into the England tour party from the A team tour of the West Indies but has so far held a watching brief.

However, the Northamptonshire bowler gets his chance tomorrow as England rest Ashley Giles, Michael Atherton, Andrew Caddick and Alec Stewart. Michael Vaughan, Matthew Hoggard and wicket-keeper Paul Nixon come into the side.

The game was originally due to last three days but England were concerned that daily travelling to the venue could aggravate back injuries to the likes of Atherton, Graham Thorpe and Nasser Hussain. Consequently the Sri Lanka board agreed to shorten the game to a one-day affair.

Brown has not played a competitive game since he appeared for England A against Guyana in January when he picked up two wickets.

It has been a meteoric rise for the 26-year-old. Last June, he was playing second XI cricket for Northamptonshire having appeared in 16 first-class games since making his debut in 1996.

But the tour of the Caribbean with England A, selected after taking 61 first-class wickets in the 2000 season, was a success and earned him his call-up to Sri Lanka.

And he aims to make sure that this will not be a fleeting acquaintance with the full England side. "I'm determined not to disappear after this tour," said Brown.

"It's been that way for me at Northamptonshire - I've played a season and then I've been back in the second team, played a few more games and then back to the seconds again.

"I've always had to work hard and it's going to be the same for England. I am on a high at the moment and there are going to be lows which I am going to have to come back from."

If Brown achieves his aim to get to the top, he will not be the only pupil from his school to have achieved fame - a fellow pupil at St Margaret's Ward School in Stoke-on-Trent was none other than pop superstar Robbie Williams.

"He was in the year above me," said Brown, "but we played in the same football team for the fourth and fifth years.

"The last time I saw him was when he told me he had just joined a band called Take That and he was going to be famous. I'd love to meet up with him again."

But for the moment Brown is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. "I still have to prove myself and one season is not enough to show I am good enough but hopefully I can take this through to next season and then it will be a different story.

"If I can do that people will recognise me for what I can do rather than all these questions about 'Jason who?'.

"It's still a bit of a learning curve for me but I've learnt a lot being out here and just being part of the squad. It would be fantastic for me playing in just one game because at least then I can go back a better cricketer for next season with Northamptonshire."

And Brown is hoping to pick up a few tips from the best of them all - prolific Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

He has studied his action to see if he can pick up any hints on how to bowl spin at the highest level. He said: "It would be great to talk to Murali. It would be good to find out what he is thinking and what line he would bowl to different batsmen.

"At some stage it would be good to grab Michael Atherton and get him to ask Murali if we could have a conversation - it would be great to take some of that knowledge," added Brown.

The Colts XI will be led by former Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana, who is still hopeful of reclaiming his place in the national side.

Teams - England: N Hussain (Essex, capt), ME Trescothick (Somerset), GA Hick (Worcestershire) GP Thorpe (Surrey), MP Vaughan (Yorkshire), C White (Yorkshire), PA Nixon (Kent, wkt), RDB Croft (Glamorgan) D Gough (Yorkshire), MJ Hoggard (Yorkshire), J Brown (Northamptonshire)

Colts XI: R Kaluwitharana (cap and wkt), A Gunawardana, L de Silva, I de Saram, U Fernando, J Kulatunga, T Samaraweera, M Warnapura, E Upashantha, I Gallage, R Herath