An exhaustingly muggy day in the field at Queens Park Oval in Port of Spain was sufficient reminder to England A that success in the Busta Cup will require hard graft and stamina.

Thanks to their hard-working seamers, England A finished in a good position after a tough first day's play against Trinidad and Tobago, with six wickets in the bag and the tail-end still to contend with.

They had to work hard for their wickets under a boiling sun but with the sweat dripping off them they stuck to their task and for much of the day restricted Trinidad to just two an over. But the final session, using both the old then the new ball, saw the run rate increase with Lincoln Roberts opening his shoulders for a superbly entertaining 62.

His picked off the runs effortlessly and when he was finally out, taken unawares by the first delivery in a new spell from Paul Franks, his tempo was maintained by Keno Mason, a nimble-footed wicketkeeper who used his judgement well in seeking out the scoring balls.

England's slow over rate kept them in the field half an hour after the scheduled close but even with the shine still on the new ball, the weary attack posed few threats.

The bowler's energy peaked during the afternoon session when Chris Silverwood, who bowled superbly from the time his skipper Mark Alleyne lost the toss and put his bowlers into action, had the slow scoring Imran Jan lbw for 24. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief since the 21-year-old left-hander, playing only his fifth game for Trinidad, had been at the crease for more than two hours and faced 104 balls, 54 of them spent with just one run to his name.

The sigh was followed by a gasp when in the same over, Silverwood had Dennis Rampersad, who had made 27, dropped at second slip by Vikram Solanki. The fielder was distraught so when another chance came to him two overs later, off the same bowler, Solanki made amends, taking an excellent low catch a foot in front of him.

It was Silverwood's third wicket of the day and accounted for Richard Smith, filling in as captain for Suruj Raganooth who withdrew at the start after his father died overnight. Although he failed to add to his tally in the final session, his figures of 3-24 from 21 overs, ten of which were maidens, reflected a fine and whole-hearted bowling effort on a flat but pacy pitch.

Nottinghamshire seamer Franks proved most effective in breaking up menacing partnerships. He missed out to Ryan Sidebottom in the first match in Grenada but when selectors decided to go with the same formation for Trinidad, including just one specialist spinner, it was Franks who got the nod.

His first spell was disappointing though the electronic scoreboard obligingly failed to recall this fact when a power cut ruled it out of action, leaving the batting line up from the last time England played West Indies in Trinidad in 1998 frozen on the board for the entire day.

Franks was undeterred and he returned to have Rampersad caught behind for 39 off a delivery that was veering wide of the off-stump. After tea he trapped the fluent Roberts lbw after he had hit nine boundaries from 88 balls.

The slow outfield helped England's cause early on - the morning session producing just 56 runs - but later, the Trinidadian middle order made good use of their local knowledge by hitting the ball over the top, Mason demonstrating the effectiveness of the tactic by pulling Alex Tudor for six over square leg in the closing stages.

By the close, Trinidad had recovered well to 211 for six with Mason still there on 32. England's bowlers have a demanding second morning ahead if they are to restrict the first innings total to 250, as planned.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd