Pakistan vs England ~ First Test ~ Lords ~ Day One [Update Thread]

[Easa]

Let the wars begin, I say! Asif and Malik are out, and possibly Younis Khan as well.

Post all match updates, and comments right here. Only 13 hours to go.

A series between England and Pakistan rarely passes off without incident. In the past there has been Mike Gatting's finger-wagging at Faisalabad, Aaqib Javed's bouncers at Old Trafford and Saqlain Mushtaq's missed no-balls at the same ground. More recently Shahid Afridi showed his dancing skills in the middle of the pitch last winter. That series ended 2-0 to a committed and talented Pakistan team as England's Ashes hangover began to set in. The rematch is shaping up to be a tasty encounter.

Already there have been plenty of incidents to talk about and the tour is barely two weeks old. Pakistan were less than impressed at how their warm-up match against England A developed into a meaningless draw, England have a stand-in (and third choice) captain who has just lost five ODIs on the bounce, while the pace bowlers on both sides continue to drop like flies.

Pakistan have moved into second place in the rankings after England's 1-1 draw with Sri Lanka and start the series as marginal favourites. But Inzamam-ul-Haq said England "were still a good team" before adding: "It doesn't matter where you are in the rankings. Every series is a new series and if you play good cricket you'll win." And Pakistan are not at their strongest with Mohammad Asif ruled out and Shoaib Malik (elbow) and Younis Khan (knee) doubtful.

"Unfortunately he hasn't reacted properly to the injection he had so he will be out," said Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, regarding Asif and then added about Malik: "He's struggling. He had a cortisone injection last night so it depends what happens to it as a reaction."

However, Andrew Strauss, in his first pre-Test press conference as captain, was well aware of Pakistan's threat. "The thing about the winter was their unpredictability. They can turn a game round in one session and you can't afford to relax against them."

Despite the distractions of injuries and all the talk over the captaincy situation, Strauss is ready to lead his country. "The selectors have shown a lot of consistency. Fred [Flintoff] obviously captained the side very well in India and did a good job against Sri Lanka. I've said all long I'm very happy to do the job if other people feel I'm the right man to do it. There's no leadership contest or anything like that."

Strauss will have to have his wits about him, the opening encounter is vital. Pakistan have been shorn of their two leading strike bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, for most of the series while Asif misses this Test. But quick bowlers - with the ability to swing the ball both ways at pace - grow on trees around the streets of Lahore and Karachi and they have solid reserves in Mohammad Sami and Umar Gul. Pakistan's trump card, however, is Danish Kaneria who bamboozled England in the winter and will enjoy the drying pitches and extended warm spell.

Despite their injury problems, Inzamam is confident in his team: "The batting is more experienced than the bowling and if we put a big score on the board we have a chance to win this game."

England, too, are in the position - a familiar one to them - of having to patch-up their bowling attack. It's a case of gaining one and possibly losing yet another. Steve Harmison is back but Matthew Hoggard is still a doubt and a decision won't to be made until the final minute. With the warm weather around, Monty Panesar will have a key role. "If he [Panesar] can go at two an over in India against their batsmen, it proves he's pretty tricky to get away," said Strauss, "so if people do go after him, he's got more chance of taking wickets."

Undoubtedly the strength of both sides is in the batting. If Pakistan so desire they could have Kamran Akmal as low as No. 8 although the loss of Malik and Younis would cause some problems. Salman Butt and Faisal Iqbal will come in at the top of the order if both the others are ruled out.

England's top-order oozes runs, or at least it should do. It only performed in fits-and-starts against Sri Lanka, usually relying heavily on Kevin Pietersen and Marcus Trescothick. With the captaincy armband, Strauss needs to rediscover the art of making Tests centuries while Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell are probably fighting over one spot when Flintoff returns and must convert starts into substance.

It is impossible for England not to look ahead but, while the wheels have not come off the Test side in the same way as the one-day team, they are starting to look distinctly wobbly. They know the winter challenges but must forget what is happening in four months time. It is the here and now which is important and that starts at Lord's tomorrow morning.

England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Alastair Cook, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Liam Plunkett, 9 Matthew Hoggard/Jon Lewis, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Monty Panesar

Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Faisal Iqbal, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Abdul Razzaq 8 Kamran Akmal (wk), 9 Mohammad Sami, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Danish Kaneria

Andrew McGlashan is editorial assistant of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

 

[MIG]

Well done Easa for beating everyone to this thread - 2 PakPassion cookies can now be found in your IE Cache !!

Rest of ya chalaak people: Hold fire until say an hour before start - pls.

 

[MIG]

And some more leisure reading until kick off:

From the Telegraph:

Pakistan hurt by injuries
By Simon Briggs


(Filed: 13/07/2006)



News that the International Cricket Council have commissioned a report into player burnout comes a little too late for this series. Both teams go into today's first Test with a better bowling attack sitting in the doctor's surgery than they can put out on the pitch.


England's injury travails are well documented, but Pakistan can probably trump them. Their No 1 seamer, Shoaib Akhtar, looks like missing most of the tour with a stress fracture of the ankle. Their No 2, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, dropped out earlier this week when it was confirmed that he would need groin surgery. And the No 3, Mohammad Asif, joined them yesterday, after failing to pass a fitness test on his sore elbow.

"We are pretty much down to the bare minimum," their coach, Bob Woolmer, said. "But there is no doubt that they are all fighters: it doesn't matter which team goes out there, they'll still fight all the way. Inzamam is a very respected captain and he has the players right behind him."

With hot weather forecast for the next few days, the prospects for Pakistan's bowlers do not look rosy.

Normally you would back their pair of leg-spinners - Danish Kaneria and Shahid Afridi - to come into their own as the pitch breaks up. But Lord's is not like other grounds: the pitch here often plays better as the game goes on, and slow bowlers rate it as their least favourite venue in England.

That puts the emphasis on the seamers - the relatively unthreatening trio of Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami and Abdul Razzaq.

Of these, Gul is tall and skinny - Peshawar's answer to Steve Watkin but with an extra yard of pace. Sami is pacy but skiddy, which makes him prone to skidding all the way to the boundary if he gets his lengths wrong. Razzaq is no more than a support seamer, an all-rounder who averages two wickets per Test.

In his first Test as captain, Andrew Strauss must be desperate to win an important toss. The pitch is flat and hard and, if England bat first, another run fest could be on the cards, on a par with the one they produced against Sri Lanka two months ago.

What they could do with avoiding is a repetition of the catching errors that they committed in that match.

As Woolmer said yesterday: "It would be very generous of England if they dropped as many catches against us. I don't think it's ever been great catching at the Nursery End, when you're looking into the Pavilion. Glass and people get in the way, and then it's downhill because of the slope. My theory is you don't see the ball very well."

Pakistan's batsmen are not as badly afflicted as the bowlers, but Shoaib Malik - an opener and off-spinner - will probably be ruled out unless his elbow problem clears up overnight.

The middle order is the heart of the team, with Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq all ranked in the top 10.

Once the opposition have disposed of that adhesive trio, their bowlers are usually so tired that Afridi can come in and wreak merry hell.

Kamran Akmal, the wicketkeeper, is also capable of blistering strokeplay, as he proved by scoring consecutive one-day centuries against England last winter.

The Lord's effect, which always used to inspire visiting teams, was not much help to Pakistan on their last visit. They went down in 2001 by an innings, as Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick took eight wickets each. But England will not be fielding such a settled new-ball attack this time, particularly if Matthew Hoggard succumbs to the stud marks in his palm.

Woolmer, for one, is hoping the occasion will help lift his tourists. "It will be wonderful for these young guys to play at Lord's," he said. "I made my debut at Lord's in 1975, so I know what an occasion it is when you first come here. It is just a fantastic place to play cricket."

 

[MIG]

Btw ,above article fails to mention Nasser Husseins memories from the last LORDS match - broken fingers from a nasty Akhtar delivery !

 

[Nauman]

So no Younis Khan, no Malik, no Asif, no Shoib, no Rana is there anyone else missing?

 

[MIG]

Some more reading from the Guardian:

Fragile England hope recovering Hoggard can stop the rot

Mike Selvey at Lord's
Thursday July 13, 2006
The Guardian


With half an eye on next winter and the other half on last summer, it is little wonder much of England's cricket over the past eight months has lacked focus. Injuries count for much, rendering premature panic and pessimism for the future, but there is no avoiding the fact that, of England's last three Test series, that against Sri Lanka was drawn when it should have been won by a distance, the one in India before that was drawn also but commendably and the first of the winter, in Pakistan, was lost comfortably after the home side turned the tables and took the first match when to all intents and purposes it had been lost.

Article continues

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What precisely had England learned about Pakistan from that series Andrew Strauss, the 77th and latest to captain England, was asked yesterday, the eve of the first Test at Lord's. "Their unpredictability," came the swift response. "You cannot take your eyes off them for a moment." Like Inspector Clouseau, England should always expect the unexpected.
Pakistan are back in England and with an enviable record in recent times which has seen them usurp England's second place in the Test match rankings. A team of mavericks seems settled under Bob Woolmer's coaching regime and the captaincy of Inzamam-ul-Haq. Until 1987, when they took a five-match series 1-0, they had never won a series in England. Since then they have not lost here. They are the only side not to have done so in the last decade.

Now, with the promise of pristine weather and with a side chock full of talent, some of it admittedly mercurial, they have a real chance of extending that run against an England side that, having become bogged down, is finding it increasingly hard to clamber out of the mud. If winning is a habit, then so too is losing - or at least not winning - especially when, as with Strauss, the formative Test years were spent in and around a side that carried all before it.

So for England these coming four Tests are about regaining composure, refocusing, not getting ahead of themselves and, in the oft repeated words of Duncan Fletcher, holding their hands up and coming to the party. This is not an England side filled with novices. Marcus Trescothick, Strauss himself, Geraint Jones, Steve Harmison and, if the hyperbaric chamber has done its job, Matthew Hoggard - form a well-versed nucleus while Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood seem like old hands now.

How the senior players respond could determine how England play. Yesterday Strauss came as close as he could to saying he felt let down by their overall response in the recent disastrous one-day whitewash by Sri Lanka. But Collingwood says there is a vibrancy in the Test match dressing room that is different from that of the one-dayers. England have always been more at home in the Test arena.

The injury to the indefatigable Hoggard has come as a particular blow because his reliability day in and day out, especially with the new ball, at which art he has become a world leader, cannot be readily replaced. He carried an optimistic air yesterday, bowling in the nets, doing some batting and catching a few skiers. With a day to go, his chances of playing appeared to have increased, although it would carry the risk that a blow on the heel of his right hand, where Tim Bresnan's boot caused a laceration, could reopen the wound.

Certainly Strauss was making encouraging noises. Hoggard's absence, though, would leave Harmison, a lacklustre figure this summer, to carry the brunt of the attack on a ground on which he has rarely thrived, such is the effect of the Lord's slope on his action.

Should Hoggard not play, Jon Lewis, as a like-for-like swing bowling replacement, will gain his second cap although, given the fine weather forecast and the way overhead conditions tend to dictate any movement with the ball (clear blue sky and a warm sun to burn off any residual moisture is not what bowlers wish to see at Lord's), he should not expect the sort of erratic swing and seam that Sri Lanka encountered. At least he should bowl straight - a welcome novelty after England's one-day scattershot display - and all the bowlers will hope for better support from the fielders, given that England dropped nine catches here in May.

Pakistan have a weakness - and therefore indecision in their selection - at the top of the order and will be missing the unmatched pace of Shoaib Akhtar and the clever swing of Naved-ul-Hasan. But the middle order of Younis Khan, Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf is tremendous - as good as it gets - and, with the prospect of Shahid Afridi (whose leg-spin should not be discounted), the brilliant wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and perhaps the all-rounder Abdul Razzaq as the third seamer instead of Umar Gul, they should not go short of runs.

Early injury scares to the seamers Mohammad Asif, who bowled so well against England in Pakistan, and Mohammad Sami appear to have dissipated. Danish Kaneria, while not yet carrying the aura of his compatriot Mushtaq Ahmed, could prove a handful on a wearing pitch.

The surface in question was under wraps yesterday in order to prevent the sun from drying it out. But it should play much as did that against Sri Lanka, which had excellent carry for the pacemen but failed to deteriorate as much as might have been hoped, helping Sri Lanka to bat out the draw. Any green tinge apparent first thing will have gone by mid-morning, leaving batsmen salivating. The possibility of the sides batting each other into a stupor cannot be discounted.

Pitch watch

The surface for the Sri Lanka Test in May stood up well and this promises to be similar, with good pace and bounce. There is an even covering of grass, which was awaiting its final brush and cut this morning.

Given the good weather forecast, teams should want to win the toss and bat

Weather Dry, plenty of sunshine

Temperature 24C

Relative humidity 33%

England (from) Strauss (Middlesex, capt), Trescothick (Somerset), Cook (Essex), Pietersen (Hampshire), Collingwood (Durham), Bell (Warwickshire), Jones (Kent, wkt), Plunkett (Durham), Hoggard (Yorkshire), Harmison (Durham), Panesar (Northamptonshire), Mahmood (Lancashire), Lewis (Gloucestershire)

Pakistan (from) Inzamam- ul-Haq (capt), Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul, Salman Butt, Faisal Iqbal.

Umpires S Bucknor (West Indies) & S Taufel (Australia)

Match referee R Madugalle (Sri Lanka)

 

[Mercenary]

Let the discussion begin...

 

[Easa]

Well done Easa for beating everyone to this thread - 2 PakPassion cookies can now be found in your IE Cache !!

Rest of ya chalaak people: Hold fire until say an hour before start - pls.

No comment.

Starts in about an hour, can't wait. :d

 

[MIG]

The last defeat at Lords against England with a full complement of Shoaib/Wasim etc still hurts so hope we can turn it around this time - although Pak are known for bad starts.

 

[zushy_786]

Lets hope there aren't any 'Best gets hungry and smells blood' or 'Afridi for 200 runs and 10 wicket' threads...

 

[HAFRIDI]

SS NEWS

Weather Forecast

Cloudy/Sunny

 

[HAFRIDI]

SS coveragre 5 mins away Woo!

 

[UJ]

Any final updates on Malik?

 

[MIG]

Hafridi - is ti possible to reduce your sig to something on one line or Not bold? Just for the duration of this match pls ? or turn off sig for the next 5 days ?

 

[Shayan]

I think it's likely that the team winning the toss will bat first, despite the overcast conditions. The forecast said it would brighten up later.

 

[Billy]

Pakistan to win thanks to Kaneria even if they do collapse first up. England to regroup at Old Trafford when Super Fred™ reappears.

Afridi to hit 31 off 14 balls before swinging too hard and knocking out his own stumps.

 

[Shayan]

oooo, David Lloyd just said there's been a bit of a problem between the players, England wouldn't let Pakistan bowl on the practice wicket, and told them to go off somewhere else

 

[HAFRIDI]

Malik's out whoever asked that and MIG sorry i cant

 

[MIG]

OK - cue riot....

 

[MIG]

Malik's out whoever asked that and MIG sorry i cant

Then using the powers of MOD, invested in me by the state of PPabad.... Chotay Bhai , karday yaar - aankhen dard kar raheen hain ?

 

[z10]

afridi for a double century

 

[sam]

Cricinfo update:

It's looking like Hoggard will be playing. But, more excitingly, is the news that there was a bit of a stand-off between the two camps. Pakistan wanted to bowl on the same strip England's bowlers were practising on...and they were told to clear off, in no uncertain terms. No evidence of any fist-fights or Zidane moments yet.

 

[Jedi Knight]

It seems as though Pakistan and England have had a slight argument about the practice pitch, just heard bumble say that...

 

[HAFRIDI]

Then using the powers of MOD, invested in me by the state of PPabad.... Chotay Bhai , karday yaar - aankhen dard kar raheen hain ?

hehe, okie doke

btw Botham rambling on about monty how hes engs best spinner since blah blah

 

[Shayan]

hehe, okie doke

btw Botham rambling on about monty how hes engs best spinner since blah blah

he's right though.

 

[sam]

Any updates on YK?

 

[HAFRIDI]

he's right though.

er yeah he is but he never stops, ok mate u mentioned it once, but constant blah blah..gets to my ears not sure about u

 

[zushy_786]

afridi for a double century

nahieeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnn

 

[HAFRIDI]

Z knows what he's talking about !

 

[Easa]

afridi for a double century

 

[Jedi Knight]

toss should be happening in about 10 minutes or so.

 

[MIG]

Good man Hafridi !

Ok from the Independent online, danger men from Pak:

Three Pakistani dangermen likely to pose greatest threat to England's chances in series

Shahid Afridi

With Shoaib Akhtar injured, Afridi, 26, is the man to watch. The attacking all-roundergrabbed the headlines in November when he scuffed up the pitch in Faisalabad. Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen are Sunday drivers compared to Afridi, who has a strike-rate - runs per 100 balls - of 86 in Tests and 108 in one-dayers. He also bowls more than useful leg-spin

Danish Kaneria

Kaneria's leg-spin is not yet in the league of Shane Warne or Anil Kumble but he is not far behind, averaging four and a half wickets a Test. The 25-year-old has developed consistency and accuracy during two stints with Essex. Height and high action gets him bounce and he bowls a great googly

Kamran Akmal

The presence of Akmal will do little to ease the pressure on England's gloveman Geraint Jones. The Pakistan keeper is a gifted cricketer who has already posted seven international hundreds. Three of these were scored in four innings against England before Christmas

Excellent article, read it at:
http://sport.independent.co.uk/cricket/article1174027.ece

 

[Shayan]

haha! love the sunday drivers comment!

 

[Shayan]

Hoggard's been passed fit - here is the England team. News of Pakistan to follow.

1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Alastair Cook, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Liam Plunkett, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Monty Panesar

 

[MIG]

Cmon Pak - The Nation ( not the newspaper ) expects

I hereby forecast a fighting 100 from Akmal.

 

[Easa]

Hoggard and Harmison opening the bowling - our openers will do well inshallah.

 

[Shayan]

a bit annoying how Sky Sports haven't mentioned the Pakistan team at all yet!

 

[Easa]

Have a feeling Inzi will score a 100 if we bat first.

 

[Jedi Knight]

England have won the toss and will bat!!

 

[Shayan]

England win the toss, and bat.

 

[HAFRIDI]

eng bat!!!

 

[HAFRIDI]

cmmon sami! all on u now!!

 

[Jedi Knight]

Theres a cloud cover so hopefully the boys can pick up 3/4 early wickets inthe first session.

 

[sam]

The Pak team hasn't been anounced as yet?

 

[Jedi Knight]

Yk and malik are not playing!!!

 

[Shayan]

no YK

 

[Jedi Knight]

Big blow the loss of both Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan

 

[Shayan]

Pak team:
Farhat, Butt, Iqbal,Inzi, MY, Afridi, Razzaq, Akmal, Sami, Gul, Kaneria

 

[sam]

Amazing! So many injuries and the team doesn't look crap.

 

[Shayan]

Rameez!!

 

[Jedi Knight]

Ramiz has made the trip to sky...

 

[Billy]

I like his hair.

 

[Jedi Knight]

I like his hair.

 

[Shayan]

Faisal Iqbal at 3, I hope Inzi and Yousuf don't have to come in at 10-3!

 

[kayanni]

am at work - no YK then?

 

[Easa]

C'mon Sami, Gul!

 

[m_sohail]

Who are the pace bowlers? Sami/Gul/Razzak?

 

[Easa]

Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Rana Naved, Mohammad Asif all out.

 

[Billy]

Faisal Iqbal at 3, I hope Inzi and Yousuf don't have to come in at 10-3!

Well if the pitch plays anything like it did last summer then both teams might end up with a score like that.

 

[sam]

Although England have won the toss and chosen to bat, it's decidedly muggy and cloudy at Lord's.

Let's hope Pak get a few wickets quickly...

 

[Jedi Knight]

I think it would be better to slot Faisal between Inzi and Yousaf.

 

[MIG]

Ok guys for the benefit of those not watching this live, pls post score updates as often as possible - thanks

 

[HAFRIDI]

Oh yes afridi and Faisal both playing, greaaaaat! shame for Yk though

Come on Sami!!

 

[Pakistani tigers]

i like ppl posting scores but sometimes it is quite repetitive...it would be better to nominate two or three ppl to commentate for 15 mins slots..a bit like real commentary from cricinfo...my two cents

 

[Osman]

apparently the pitch is an absolute belter !!!

 

[Billy]

apparently the pitch is an absolute belter !!!

10/3

 

[HAFRIDI]

Sami/Afridi's day, come on !

 

[Raz]

Not wanting to ruin this thread but just wanted everyone to know that I passed all my exams that I took and so have passed my first year at uni!!!!

Come on Pakistan!!!!!

 

[HAFRIDI]

Not wanting to ruin this thread but just wanted everyone to know that I passed all my exams that I took and so have passed my first year at uni!!!!

Come on Pakistan!!!!!

woooooooo

Congrats!!!!!!!!

 

[MIG]

i like ppl posting scores but sometimes it is quite repetitive...it would be better to nominate two or three ppl to commentate for 15 mins slots..a bit like real commentary from cricinfo...my two cents

Ok sure - whatever is easy for people but just remember its frustrating for someone not watching this live on TV if all you read is "wow - is that out ?" or something like that

 

[sam]

Congrats, Raz.

 

[MIG]

MOM = Raz !!! Well done

 

[Easa]

Not wanting to ruin this thread but just wanted everyone to know that I passed all my exams that I took and so have passed my first year at uni!!!!

Come on Pakistan!!!!!

Congratulations.

 

[Easa]

MIG, Foxsports are showing some nascar racing. Pak/Eng?

 

[Raz]

Just showing some great highlights from the last Pak-Eng series from last winter.

 

[Raz]

Rameez's hair looks terrible.

 

[zMario]

MIG, Foxsports are showing some nascar racing. Pak/Eng?

Try ESPN or Star Sports Easa

 

[Raz]

Just a reminder of the teams:

Pakistan:

Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Inzamam-Ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria

England:

Trescothick, Strauss, Cook, Pieterson, Collingwood, Bell, Jones, Plunkett, Hoggard, Harmison, Panesar

 

[IMMY69]

wicket has some live grass and although atherton said it will be pure batting wicket...ian botham of all people said he thinks differently and there will be movement early on...

its hars and grassy so will definitely have good pace and bounce...

 

[Raz]

wicket has some live grass and although atherton said it will be pure batting wicket...ian botham of all people said he thinks differently and there will be movement early on...

its hars and grassy so will definitely have good pace and bounce...

If the conditions do suit the bowlers a bit, its a good chance for Sami and Gul to showcase their talents.