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JASON LEWRY, the England A fast bowler, declared himself fit for today's second one-day international against Zimbabwe A at Alexandra, having recovered from what was diagnosed as e-coli poisoning in Bulawayo.

The second five-day Test in Bulawayo turned into an ordeal for Lewry, who was unable to sleep because of sharp intestinal pain and diarrhoea. The Sussex left-armer played through the match creditably with occasional rests on the sidelines, but England's management were worried enough to send samples off for laboratory testing.

The unlucky Lewry was not considered for Tuesday's extraordinary one-day international at Queens, which ended with all the England players flooding on to the pitch in joy and relief when Chris Read and Dean Cosker snatched the one-wicket victory in the final over.

The England party flew back here yesterday morning with some lessons to digest after that Queens wake-up call. None of the bowlers, apart from Andrew Flintoff, got to grips his task.

Cosker had to redeem himself for a fumbled run-out attempt at the stumps, which gave Stuart Carlisle his only life before he had faced a ball. The Zimbabwean's 80 off 67 balls was the outstanding batting feature of the match.

England's unexpected success was greeted with pandemonium something like, one might imagine, the reaction when a baboon burst into a house in the Bulawayo suburbs last weekend while a family were watching television.

England went into the Queens match with seven bowlers, if Vikram Solanki's off-spin was to be included, suggesting there could be room for an extra batsman such as Robert Key.

Another selection factor would be Read's injury - he was struck on his left shoulder joint by the ricochet from one of Michael Vaughan's direct hits - and that could rule him out today, giving Solanki his debut as the stand-in wicketkeeper.