Ian Bell's a doubt for final Test as stomach bug strikes again

The batsman started to feel unwell overnight and was too ill to take part in training, which coach Andy Flower again split into two groups to allow the players longer batting practice.

Bell was being assessed by England's medical team during the day and they will be keen to see him take part in final practice tomorrow if they are to pass him fit to start on Friday. The 29-year-old is the third player to be hit by a stomach bug on this tour.

Jonathan Trott could only bat at No7 as England collapsed to 72 all out in the second innings in Abu Dhabi last week and Ravi Bopara has also been struggling, although the Essex player practised today.

Bell has had a poor series with the bat, making just 36 runs in four innings, and has been part of below-par middle-order performances that have contributed to England losing the first two Tests here.

Whatever happens in the third and final Test here, this will be Andrew Strauss's first Test series loss as captain since the tour of the Caribbean early in 2009.

If England win this game, they will, at least, ensure they remain at the top of the International Cricket Council's Test rankings.

While England's batsmen have really struggled, with only Alastair Cook, Trott and Matt Prior ever looking confident against the Pakistani spinners, the tourists' bowlers have performed far more admirably. Stuart Broad has excelled in both Tests, Monty Panesar took seven wickets on his Test comeback in Abu Dhabi and both Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Swann have bowled solidly.

Anderson was keen not to lay the blame at the door of the batsmen but as England worked so hard to reach the top of the Test table, which they did during the home series against India last summer, he knows they must work hard to remain there. "We want to stay at No1 in the world and losing Tests will not help us achieve that," said Anderson. "We have to try to win this Test and every Test we can.

"There are a few important issues we have to try to work through in the next Test.

"The biggest thing is that we have another two tours to Asia, to Sri Lanka in March and April and then to India at the end of the year.

"We need to perform well here. On top of that, we have one-day and Twenty20 series against Pakistan after the Tests finish, so we have to try to take some momentum into those games by winning this Test.

"But the batsmen have been fantastic for the last couple of years. A lot has been made of what happened in the first two Tests but we have confidence in them.

"We have had discussions where we have been open and honest with each other and we have been working hard to correct what has gone wrong."