ENGLAND'S PLAYERS reach Sharjah after 13 weeks without any competitive cricket. The other three teams arrive straight from a crowded November – three Tests apiece, plus one-day internationals. When this point was put to Warwickshire's Dougie Brown, he observed: `Good. They'll be knackered!'

`Unquenchable, uncontaminated enthusiasm': Matthew Fleming shows the competitive streak that has brought him England recognition at the grand old age of 32

He may have a point. After three Test in 23 days, Pakistan and West Indies are sure of only one day's break between the Karachi Test and their first match, against each other, in Sharjah. India, too, fly in straight from their series against Sri Lanka.

Where the other teams have the edge is on local knowledge. England have been to Sharjah only twice before. In 1984–85 Norman Gifford, 44, led a motley crew to defeats against Australia and Pakistan, then, two years later, John Emburey captained England to a slide-rule victory on overall run rate against Australia, India and Pakistan. Unlike the current 14-man squad, that side was selected with little regard for one-day cricket. Only five of this squad – Adam Hollioake, Croft, Headley, Stewart and Thorpe– are going to West Indies, while four more ( Ealham, Giles, B Hollioake, Knight) are on the `A' tour. That leaves five others ( Alistair Brown, D Brown, Fleming, Hick, Martin), which shows the importance placed by the selectors on picking England's best one-day players.

David Graveney, the chairman, is tour manager. He says: `This is a good chance to see where we stand with our first specialist one-day squad to go abroad. In England, we play against the opposition's Test sides with our one-day squad, but we have never done it previously overseas. India and Pakistan will bring their optimum one-day teams too, although West Indies will choose from the party that played the Test series in Pakistan, unless they fly anyone in.'

Won't England be rusty? `I think we'll be ready. The players needed a break after 10 months of continuous cricket. We had them tested for fitness at the end of the season, and then October was theirs to maintain fitness and, where necessary, improve before they went to Lanzarote for a week in early November. We took 36 players and used the week to prepare, train and practise at the right level of intensity.'

The Sharjah 14 were given a further 10 days' acclimatisation. They were due to fly to Pakistan on Dec 1 to practise and play three warm-up matches (one under lights) in Gujranwala and Lahore. On Dec 8 it's off, via Dubai, for two days of nets and practice under the Sharjah lights before lift-off on Dec 11 against India, followed two days later by Pakistan, whose record at Sharjah is second to none.

Capacity crowds of over 15,000 can be expected, particularly for matches involving India. Most of them are expatriates, and their penchant for betting, ball-by-ball by mobile telephone with bookmakers in India and Pakistan, creates a unique atmosphere that is not for the faint-hearted.

Several of the players will not have experienced anything quite like it. England's matches will reveal much about temperament – especially that of Hollioake Snr, the first captain (since Giff, anyway) chosen specifically to lead England in one-day cricket.

The size of the ground allows no more than five turf pitches, all favouring bat much more than ball. Saeed Anwar, in particular, has enjoyed himself there: in Oct 1993 he became only the second player (after Zaheer Abbas) to score three hundreds in successive one-dayers. Another century the previous year gave him four in five innings at Sharjah.

The stadium was purpose-built in the mid-1980s. The early tournaments were run for the benefit of former and current players, including Fazal Mahmood, Vijay Hazare, Iqbal Qasim, Javed Miandad, Mohsin Khan, Viv Richards, Ravi Shastri and Dilip Vengsarkar. Individual sums of up to £30,000 were raised, but the biggest jackpot of all was landed by Javed in April 1986. Facing India in the final of the cleverly named Austral-Asia Cup, he needed to hit the last ball of the match for four. He had managed only two fours and two sixes previously in his 110, but contrived to hit Chetan Sharma's low full-toss for six. It won him a new Mercedes and a jewel-encrusted watch. It also settled bets worth millions of rupees back in Bombay. Half the crowd's mobile phones had been used with the speed of a touch-typist. The other half were suddenly quiet.

The same two countries met in another Sharjah final five years later. Controversy was in the air from the moment Imran Khan got wind of the alleged intention of four of his team to bet on India. He called the players together and told them their match fees would be bet on Pakistan. They won by 72 runs after Aqib Javed secured a hat-trick of lbws. India complained the decisions were the result of bias against them by the Moslem organisers.

Times have changed, with a big screen, TV replays, a referee, and radio communication between the three umpires now standard. Prizemoney has risen only marginally, from the £22,000 West Indies won in 1987 to £26,000 for the winners this time.

Last word to Graveney. `The World Cup in 1999 is crucial. There is a need for intensive pre-planning, and we have never done that before. Sri Lanka did in the run-up to the last World Cup, yet nobody noticed until it was too late. I want England to emulate them by becoming an experienced, well-organised, emergent team, and Sharjah is the start of that.'

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd