Pakistan v England 2011-12

Ian Bell down with stomach bug

Ian Bell was forced to miss training on Wednesday after becoming the latest victim of a stomach bug that has affected several members of the England party.

While Bell hopes to resume training on Thursday, his current absence is not ideal. Like the rest of England's middle order, he has struggled to deal with the turning ball and was hoping to utilise every moment of practice time available before the third Test.

The rest of the squad trained once again at the ICC Global Cricket Academy, with Jonathan Trott and Ravi Bopara hitting the ball particularly well in the nets.

Afterwards James Anderson insisted the mood in the England camp remained upbeat and dismissed any suggestion that there was any split between the bowlers, who have enjoyed a fine tour to date, and the batsmen who, on the whole, have not.

"The mood is pretty good, considering the position we're are in in this series," Anderson said. "There have not been any more meetings than usual. We always have a debrief after a game and, this time, it was a bit longer. We are an open and honest group and the guys have been open and honest in this last couple of days.

"As bowlers, our job is to take 20 wickets in a Test. We thought that might be a difficult job for us out here, but we have probably exceeded our expectations in that department. We're pretty pleased with the way it has been going.

"The batsmen have been fantastic for us over the last couple of years. A lot has been made of two bad games, but the whole team still has confidence in our batting unit. They have been working very hard to correct things over the last couple of days.

"At the end of the day, we lost the game and it reflects on the whole team. We don't think of it as batters against bowlers. There will be times when the bowlers won't get wickets and the opposition get 600 and we're out in the field for two days. The batsmen won't be happy with us then.

"We have every faith in our batsmen that they will come out strong in the next Test."

Motivation should remain no problem for England. Despite having already been condemned to a series defeat, the motivation of remaining the top-ranked Test team and gaining some confidence in Asian conditions will, according to Anderson, ensure the tourists approach the final Test in a positive frame of mind.

"There are a few important issues for us," Anderson said. "The biggest thing is that we have another two tours in the subcontinent this year. So to perform well out here is a big thing for us. We want to stay No. 1 in the world as well, and losing Test matches isn't going to help us achieve that. We've got to try to win every Test match we possibly can.

"We also have a one-day series coming up, so to take a bit of momentum into that would be useful."

George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo