Preparation, preparation, preparation is the mantra of the modern professional and yesterday evening Middlesex and an England XI put that principle to the test. The only conclusion to draw at the end of a scrappy game, won less than convincingly by England, was that both teams need a whole lot more before they can look forward confidently to their big-money clashes in the days to come.

England were made to work hard against their domestic opponents, as the Stanford Superstars were made to do against theirs on Saturday, but in the end they got home thanks largely to a bowling performance that was a lot sharper than the batting, and Andrew Flintoff’s skill with the ball at the end of the innings.

There was much to ponder for Kevin Pietersen last evening, though, not least the rusty form of his batsmen, who struggled to come to terms with a surface that was at once two-paced and receptive to spin. Once Middlesex’s spinners had been introduced, England faltered badly, as they so often have in the past when pace has been taken off the ball in the middle of the innings, only Owais Shah’s hard-working 39 enabling England to limp into three figures.

Despite the extra practice Middlesex have enjoyed here, they were just as sloppy. Their fielding was of schoolboy standard, with fumbles aplenty and four dropped catches in all that ranged from the moderately difficult to, when Andrew Strauss put down Flintoff, the absurdly easy. The players have been eyeing the floodlights suspiciously, but Strauss’s young son would have swallowed the chance.

If Middlesex are to have a successful pay day today against Trinidad they will rely, as ever, on the excellence of their spinners, who combined yesterday to take three England wickets for 43 runs in eight beguiling overs. Murali Kartik is top-class and although Shaun Udal is less dangerous as a wicket-taker, he is just as canny. Graeme Swann’s pink Ferrari is no forlorn hope yet.