Hussain damaged the index finger of his right hand after scoring a century in the final India Test at Trent Bridge. He described his own chances as ``fifty-fifty'' after facing throw-downs in the nets. He said: ``I shall be very disappointed if I have to step down. But I have to take the decision for the team and not just for myself.''

Lewis was the chosen guinea-pig when the Test and County Cricket Board launched their new synchronised system at Lord's for measuring the speed of bowlers. He reached 83 miles an hour and at that moment seemed confident that he had overcome his recent thigh strain. But coach David Lloyd was less sanguine about the chances of either man playing. ``You want them to be 100 per cent fit for such a match and I would say Nasser is extremely doubtful. Lewis is doubtful - but not perhaps as doubtful as Nasser. He didn't bowl in the nets: he sat in a chair for most of the time.''

When told that Lewis had been bowling beforehand to try out the new Sword Sniper - sponsored by Wilkinson Sword - Lloyd said: ``I don't know anything about that. I've been in court.''

Lloyd said there would be no need to call up further players. ``We have cover in every respect,'' he said. If Hussain and Lewis are ruled unfit, Simon Brown would make his Test debut and Nick Knight would return for his first game since the India Test at Edgbaston.

Knight, another victim of a hand injury, was given special slip fielding practice and appeared to satisfy Lloyd that his damaged finger has now healed. Hussain said that he felt a jarring in his hand when the ball hit the splice or the bottom of the bat. ``On the way to the ground I thought that it would be fine. But now it is rather sore.''

The ``bowlometer'' will be used in the Lord's Test and again for the final game at the Oval. Radar guns measure the speed from the moment it leaves the bowler's hand until it pitches. The results are then flashed on to a screen positioned behind one of the boundary boards.