England give White more time to prove his World Cup fitness

Craig White has been given an extra 48 hours by England to prove his fitness for the World Cup, which begins in Cape Town on Sunday. The move emphasises how crucial the Yorkshire all-rounder is to the plans of the England coach, Duncan Fletcher, to field nine players with batting capabilities during the tournament.

Having bowled for the first time yesterday since tearing a side muscle during the Melbourne Test in December, the 33-year-old will miss today's warm-up match against Eastern Province in Motherwell, one of South Africa's townships.

Originally, both Fletcher and the captain, Nasser Hussain, insisted that White must bowl in that contest, but the deadline has been put back to Thursday when England play Border in East London. "It's nice to know they are keen and doing everything in their power to make sure I am fit," White said. "I have got to return the favour and make sure I am fit. I am just going to bowl and put up with the pain and hopefully not break down. I will give it everything to play in the World Cup."

Hussain, who has been at pains to avoid a repeat of the injury plagued tour of Australia, agreed: "There was never any rigidity with the deadline, we just need to see how he reacts to his first bowl."

White bowled for 20 minutes yesterday at about "80 per cent" so the body will be fully tested when he raises his effort to flat out. His fellow all-rounder Adam Hollioake or Owais Shah, the Middlesex batsman, are the most likely candidates should he suffer another reaction.

The pace bowler Steve Harmison is unlikely to play today as a precaution, given the ankle injury he sustained during the VB Series, and Matthew Hoggard may miss the match because of a finger injury.

It is now only nine days until the scheduled World Cup opener, against Zimbabwe in Harare, which appears increasingly unlikely to take place. The England and Wales Cricket Board yesterday delegated three members,the chairman, David Morgan, the chief executive, Tim Lamb, and John Pickup, chairman of the ECB Recreational Forum, to decide whether to ask for the match to be moved to South Africa.

The ECB has failed to follow its players' lead over the fixture on 13 February, but will consult Fletcher and Hussain before taking their next step.

* Australia appeared to edge closer to withdrawing from their World Cup match in Zimbabwe when their department of foreign affairs issued a new warning to supporters planning to attend the match, advising them to take extreme precautions.