ENGLAND will test the Ashes goodwill factor to the full when they release their rendition of Jerusalem in time for Christmas. Where they were once the patron saints of lost causes, the England cricket team are becoming the champions of good causes and a day after they lost the first Test in Multan, the team were in a Faisalabad hotel recording the charity single with Keedie, a Wolverhampton-born female classical singer.

Following in the not so glorious footsteps of sports stars taking up the microphone, England hope their new status will take their single to the festive No 1 position. Jerusalem will be released on December 12 and all proceeds will be split between the Asian earthquake appeal and two cricketing charities — the ECB’s Chance to Shine, and the Professional Cricketers ’ Association’s charity, which helps former players who have fallen on hard times, “In England I don’t think we realised the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake and it was soon forgotten,” Michael Vaughan said. “There is a lot of work still to do and donations are needed to get people’s lives back on track.

“Jerusalem is a special song and is the reason why the crowd got behind us from half past ten every morning this summer. It was played from the beginning of play and it lifted the crowd.”

Tony Matharu, the project manager, said: “Discussions about the recording started in September but with the team away and with the World XI matches in Australia beforehand, this was the only period where all the team could be together with a gap in their playing schedule.

“The earthquake hadn’t happened when we started talking, but as a result of the tragedy in Pakistan it felt appropriate and right that we should contribute funds to that also.”

The ECB has tried to make Jerusalem the anthem of the cricket team and encouraged the crowd to sing along before the start of play in home Tests to mixed success. Victory can make vocal the quietest soul; whether it can make them tuneful is another matter.

Vaughan and Co’s model should be Swing Low, England’s 2003 World Cup-winning rugby union team song, which met some acclaim, and not the effort of Chris Waddle and Glenn Hoddle, the former footballers, who are still ridiculed for their dated hairstyles and rigid dance moves during the video of their 1980s release, Diamond Lights. Kevin Pietersen’s hair, beware, or this could well be remembered as the song of the badger.

• Marlon Samuels, the West Indies batsman, has returned home after a knee injury ruled him out of the third and final Test against Australia, starting in Adelaide on Friday. The world champions continued to ring the changes, with the struggling Michael Clarke dropped to accommodate Justin Langer, the opener.