Windies favourites to fill in

West Indies are favourites to fill in as opponents for England next week should Pakistan pull out of the NatWest Series.

Very few alternatives are possible but the England and Wales Cricket Board have been working behind the scenes to formulate a back-up plan and the Windies are technically free.

The limited-overs section of Pakistan's tour gets under way next Monday with a Twenty20 contest in Bristol preceding the NatWest Series - all six matches are worth an estimated £10million to the England and Wales Cricket Board. However, there has been no cast-iron assurance that Pakistan will fulfil their commitments while a disciplinary hearing looms for captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.

South Africa appeared a possible alternative given they pulled out of a tri-series tournament in Sri Lanka last week but, like India, they have since gone down other avenues.

The South Africans are concluding arrangements to face as yet unnamed opposition in Abu Dhabi, while Greg Chappell's India are training ahead of flying to Malaysia on September 9 to play a tournament alongside Australia and West Indies.

"From our side it is not something we have contemplated at all and at the moment I don't think we could," said Gerald Majola, the chief executive of Cricket South Africa.

"When we came back from Sri Lanka we began to make our own plans and we are currently in negotiations with Abu Dhabi to play some games there."

All major nations are jockeying for meaningful warm-up ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy in October and India have been known to make last-minute deals in the past.

But asked if they would be available, Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president Lalit Modi said: "No. We are fully committed all the way to the Champions Trophy. We have the series in Kuala Lumpur and the team is assembling for that imminently."