WORCESTERSHIRE'S Graeme Hick is still waiting to find out if he will keep his England place for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, which starts tomorrow.

Yorkshire batsman Michael Vaughan has recovered from a stomach illness to put himself forward for selection.

That could be either as a replacement for skipper Nasser Hussain, who is suffering from groin trouble, or to take over in the middle order following Hick's failure to make an impression in the first two Tests.

Vaughan, who claimed seven wickets in the two first-class warm-up matches earlier in the tour with his improving off-spin, could also be put on stand-by for Ashley Giles should he fail a fitness test on his Achilles problem.

England will make a final check on Hussain and Giles before deciding their line-up.

Hussain suffered his injury during the three-wicket victory in Kandy and although he emerged unscathed from yesterday's net practice, the tourists plan to put him through a more thorough fitness test today.

Left-arm spinner Giles has suffered a slight setback with his problem, which almost caused him to miss the opening Test at Galle, and will also be put through his paces today by physiotherapist Dean Conway.

"I was fit yesterday at nets and batted pretty well and the body was fine for that," explained Hussain. "The fielding and running between the wickets are going to be the big test for me although I'm a bit stiff after testing it out in the pool earlier with the physio.

"I'm looking to play at this stage, I'm looking for things which tell me not to play and as long as the injury doesn't deteriorate from yesterday then I'll be fit for selection."

Of Giles, he added: "Ashley's been carrying his Achilles for a while and we're keeping a close eye on him and how he shapes up. Everybody wants to play in this game and we're just going to have to have a bit of caution."