Farbrace concerned about England's catching

Paul Farbrace, England's assistant coach, has expressed concern about the standard of his team's catching during the first of their two warm-up games against Pakistan A in Sharjah.

Despite a generally encouraging first outing in the fierce desert heat of the UAE, in which Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid all made half-centuries before Moeen Ali and Mark Wood impressed with the ball, Farbrace warned his players not to squander the chances that come their way in what could be an attritional three-Test series.

Pakistan A closed the second and final day of the warm-up match on 216 for 5, but England were made to toil during a wicketless afternoon session in which Iftikhar Ahmed (92 not out) and Fawad Alam (55) added 112 in a 44-over partnership.

However, their resistance was aided when Cook dropped a sharp chance in the slips off Stuart Broad when Iftikhar had made just 11. Moeen also missed a caught-and-bowled off Fawad, before late in the day, Adnan Akmal edged through the gap between Jos Buttler, the keeper, and Cook at first slip.

"The application with the ball was outstanding," Farbrace said. "The one thing we've just had a quick chat about is that, to win a Test match, you've got to take 20 chances - and we've missed a couple of chances [here].

"That's something we'll have to work very hard on, and something we prided ourselves on in the Ashes series."

England's fielding during the Ashes was one of the outstanding features of their 3-2 series win, and owed much to an intensive training camp in Spain prior to the series, when Trevor Bayliss, the new coach, made it an imperative to hone his players' reflexes.

The iconic moment of the summer duly arrived on the first morning at Trent Bridge, when Ben Stokes in the gully took an outstanding one-handed catch off an incredulous Broad, as Australia were rolled aside for 60.

That, however, is in the past now, as England look to build on their Ashes success in very different conditions.

"We're coming here knowing it's going to be a very, very tough series," Farbrace said. "I said at the end of the Australian series I expected this to be a tougher series for us to play in. We knew it was going to be tough, very different obviously from conditions we've just played in the Ashes.

"We've still got a good few days to go, so there'll be plenty of catching done over the next few days. But generally, I think we had a really good two days. We saw how players adapted quite quickly to the situation and conditions.

England's senior players in particular know what is at stake in the coming weeks. Cook, Broad, Ian Bell and James Anderson all played on the last England tour to the UAE in 2012, in which they were beaten 3-0 in spite of having opportunities to dominate in the second and third Tests.

"We've got senior players who've been here and experienced it, and I think there was a feeling that - although they lost the last Test series here 3-0 - it was one they could quite easily have won," Farbrace said. "They didn't, that's history, it's gone now.

"But I think we've got a great chance with this group to play some really good cricket, and we're looking to be as positive as we possibly can be."

England's line-up for the first Test appeared to become a touch clearer after the first warm-up, with Moeen opening the batting alongside Cook and Rashid's legspin getting a useful airing as well.

"Mo's had first go in this practice game, and we were very pleased with the way he applied himself," Farbrace said. "It's exciting [to have two spinners bowling together]. It's the way we want to go, and I know Trevor is a huge fan of two spinners in the side."

In the middle order, Bairstow took his opportunity with an unbeaten 66, having been chosen ahead of James Taylor for the first match.

However, Farbrace insisted there was still everything to play for when the second warm-up gets underway tomorrow.

"Everybody in the 16, I think, genuinely has an opportunity at this stage," he said. "I wouldn't rule anything in or out, and I think we need to keep our options open as long as we possibly can."