Rain hampers England's preparations

England's preparations for the first Test against India were limited to just half a training session at their camp in Abu Dhabi owing to poor weather.

Heavy rain prevented the players from leaving their hotel until after lunch, curtailing their much-needed training and keenness to concentrate on cricket after a turbulent few weeks. With the first Test just five days away, there is precious little time for England to hone their skills.

Not only have they been on and off long-haul flights in recent days but it is also more than three months since England last played a Test. With the warm-up match in Vadodara scrapped the squad will have to make do with nets and some middle practice between each other.

Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, has flown to Chennai to assess security ahead of the Test on Thursday, and a decision is expected on Sunday over whether the tour party will get the go-ahead to return to India. Morris and his namesake, Sean, the Professional Cricketers' Association chief executive, along with security advisor Reg Dickason, are due to report back to the team on Sunday evening. All being well, England will travel back to India on Monday.

Dickason has already inspected Chennai and is due to visit Mohali, the venue of the second Test, on December 8. While the BCCI says it has responded to all the ECB's requests for extra security measures, reports from India on Thursday about airport alerts means the situation remains fluid.

An expanded England party of 38 - including 24 players - arrived in Dubai in the early hours of Friday morning before travelling to Abu Dhabi. They didn't check into their hotel until 4.15am, but nine hours later headed to the Sheikh Zayed Stadium for a practice session.

"Obviously, the situation being the way it is, we have got to make best use of the facilities," Paul Collingwood told the Press Association on Friday. "Sunday is D-day, when we get the full security reports, and really, from a cricketing perspective, we have to be mentally right for starting on Thursday.

"We need to get the physical side back into our bodies - batting for long periods of time, for example - which is what we will get for the next three days here," he added. "What we've got to do as a group of players is be 100% mentally attuned to starting on Thursday, take all the distractions out of the way and when it comes to Sunday night, talk about it again and make a decision.

"It is not an ideal situation, but the facilities in Abu Dhabi are excellent and, all being well, all of us should be on the plane to India on Monday morning," Collingwood said. "We all have concerns for obvious reasons but we are leaving it in the hands of the people who know what is going on. We have to trust the guys at the top: Reg Dickason, the ECB and BCCI to come up with the right decisions to make it safe for us to go."

The Test party is light on bowling resources - Ryan Sidebottom is out of the series with a side injury and Stuart Broad ruled out of the first Test with the hamstring strain he picked up in the fifth ODI. Ten players from the Performance Squad have travelled to Abu Dhabi to help with preparations, including late addition Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire legspinner.

However, it is more likely that England will need to take an extra seamer to Chennai as currently there are just three fit frontline quicks - Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and James Anderson. Sajid Mahmood and Amjad Khan were added to the one-day squad after the fifth ODI but never had a chance to join up before the tour was suspended. They probably head the queue if reinforcements are required next week.