Moores: Players want passage to India

England coach Peter Moores has declared a will within the touring party to return to India for the forthcoming Test series.

Moores talked positively about a resumption of the tour on the second day of the training camp in Abu Dhabi.

A final decision on whether to head on to Chennai for Thursday’s first of two Tests will be made by the team tomorrow night after they have been given the latest security feedback.

The tour was suspended a week ago, following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, when Kevin Pietersen’s men flew home.

“There’s a general will within the team to go and play these Test matches,” Moores said. “Because, one, people will be representing their country but also in the situation we find ourselves after what happened in Mumbai.

Coach Peter Moores poses for the media at Le Royal Meridien Hotel in Abu Dhabi

“There’s a strong feeling that we want to go and play these Tests.

“But everyone will have different opinions and if someone doesn’t want to go we will respect that.

“Hopefully we can take our full-strength side there, compete, win the series and have a good Christmas.”

England had made provision to practise all day at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium but their plans were hit by the weather.

Heavy rain washed out their morning net session and meant they began nets shortly after 2pm.

"The practice has been compromised quite a lot, we are practising in the wrong country but the lads are in good spirits," insisted Moores.

"It is more of a mental shift we need now - we have been playing one-day cricket for a long time and we need to get ready for Test cricket, and the disciplines of the longer form of the game.

"We cannot use the compromise to practice as an excuse for poor performance.

"Mentally, everyone has to assume we are going.

"It's about (getting) your skills ready to go as a batter or a bowler: it's such a quick turnaround now, so the lads have got to get themselves (together) really quickly if they are going to be ready."