England have defended their decision to put relaxation before intense practice as they prepare for this week's encounter with Australia A in Hobart. This morning the players concentrated on fielding drills in a light session, while the seamers bowled for 20 minutes in the middle, before the squad left for an afternoon's golf.

Both the Australian and UK press have questioned the decision not to hold a full practice session on the scheduled fifth day of the first Test, which England lost by 384 runs. In England, the Daily Telegraph criticised the decision of several players to play golf.

"Players had the option of going to the nets to hone their decomposing skills or trying to hit golf balls with more dexterity then they showed with a cricket bat," said the Telegraph. "Most chose golf which, based on the co-ordination we have seen so far, means some of them may still be attempting to connect with the ball on the first hole."

But opener Marcus Trescothick, who will captain England this weekend while Nasser Hussain travels to Perth to attend the birth of their second child, emphasised the importance of time away from intensive cricket.

"It's an individual thing and people want to do different things," Trescothick said. "The bowlers have had a bit of a run through on the middle, but you also need to schedule time off as much as you do practice sessions - people have to understand that we're away for a long, long time here.

"Time off is as valuable as being in the nets because you can get so stale. Five minutes of bad practice is no use at all so you have to have time off and time away from it.

"Yesterday we had a travelling day when we spent four hours on the plane and an hour either side at the airport so you can't really call that a day off - you need to relax and get away from the game sometimes."

The Hobart game is England's final first-class match of the tour outside of the Test series. Back-to-back Tests in Adelaide and Perth follow. The England camp might point to the tour of Sri Lanka early in 2001, when a three-day match in Kurunegala was cancelled in favour of a one-day game after the tourists lost the first Test by an innings. They responded by winning the next two Tests and the series.

Meanwhile there is still concern over the fitness of Andrew Flintoff following a double hernia operation last August. Flintoff was short of full pace today and will now be put through his paces in tomorrow's net session to determine whether he is fit enough for a three-day match.

"He's still experiencing some soreness in the groin area," admitted Andrew Walpole, England's media relations manager. "We're still hopeful he'll be able to play on Friday, but we'll re-assess the situation after he's tested out the injury in the nets tomorrow."

If Flintoff cannot convince England's management of his fitness tomorrow, fellow all-rounder Craig White, who was called up as cover nearly three weeks ago, is likely to be made a full-time member of the squad.

© CricInfo Ltd.