Rain delays Shah's bid to shine up the order

"The good player he is, I think Owais was wasted down at seven," said the new captain.

"He's a high-scoring, quickscoring batsman who plays cricket strokes to hit boundaries.

"I think 'Ace' is a very good cricketer. When he's played for us he's always done really well. He got a one-day hundred last year against India and has scored some really good runs for us this year and I'm going to give him the confidence to bat at No3."

Shah's move up the order means Pietersen will drop down a place. That should not prevent him from being a dominant force, though, and will also provide a little extra recovery time from the stresses of leadership if he has spent 50 overs in the field.

So far, most of the captain's one- day plans have been designed with 50-over cricket in mind and tomorrow's Twenty20 contest would have given him the opportunity to try some variations. Generally, though, Pietersen stresses it is the job of the front-line batsmen to score most of the runs whatever form of the game England are playing.

"It's a silly batting order," he agreed when it was pointed out that Stuart Broad was listed to go in at No10 yesterday. "It is brilliant to have that depth but the one thing that can harm us is that you leave the job to someone else. As batsmen we have to take responsibility."