Craig Kieswetter

Craig Kieswetter has switched camps, from England Lions back to England, and will try to underline his seniority when both teams meet at the Zayed Stadium on Friday.

It was here that Kieswetter first impressed England coach Andy Flower and the selectors so significantly, top-scoring for the Lions against the first string in a Twenty20 win two years ago, that he was able to gate-crash the one-day international tour of Bangladesh which followed.

A starring role in England's World Twenty20 success - their first and only to date in an ICC tournament - was also just around the corner.

This time, in a warm-up match for four ODIs against Pakistan, Kieswetter already knows he will be deployed in the middle rather than at the top of the order - to accommodate Kevin Pietersen's elevation.

Before joining England practice on Thursday, the wicketkeeper-batsman made it clear he is anticipating a thoroughly competitive match against highly-motivated opponents - with whom he has spent the past few weeks on tour in Sri Lanka.

"It's obviously a big game for both sides," he said.

"I was fortunate enough to play in one of these two years ago, and it kind of kickstarted my international career.

"I played one of these games, and then two weeks later I was playing an ODI for England.

"There's a lot riding on this game, our warm-up game for the series, and it gives the Lions guys a great opportunity to showcase their talents in front of Andy Flower and the selectors."



Catch all the live cricket scores at cricandcric.com

---