Amjid Javed
PakPassion's 100,000 posts man
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Ian Bell could be left sweating over his Test place, as England prepare to explore all options in their three-day warm-up match against a Pakistan Cricket Board Patron's XI, which gets underway at Rawalpindi tomorrow. Having secured permission to give an airing to all 14 members of his squad, England's coach, Duncan Fletcher, could be forced to re-assess the balance of his team, in a bid to cover for the absent Simon Jones.
Bell, who made a pair in the Ashes-clinching fifth Test at The Oval last month, is likely to be the fall-guy if, as seems quite possible at this stage, England decide to go into the first Test at Multan with two spinners. Alex Loudon, who has been impressive in the early nets sessions, is currently ahead of Shaun Udal in the tour pecking order, while Paul Collingwood has been generating good pace on the sluggish wickets, and is once again being considered as an extra bowling option.
"At this stage I would like to see all 14 take part, but we will have to use our heads," Fletcher told reporters at the team hotel. "We are getting mixed messages as to what sort of wicket is being prepared, so I will let them use this as a practice game and let them get an idea about how the wicket will play. We don't want to go out there with the wrong mindset."
England used just 12 players in total in last summer's Ashes series, and had it not been for Jones's untimely ankle injury, they would have fielded an unchanged 11 for all five Tests. All of a sudden, however, there are two places up for grabs, although Fletcher was understandably wary about talking up Loudon's prospects of a first international call-up.
"He's been impressing us," Fletcher admitted, having kept close tabs on Loudon's progress during the first days of the tour, "but at the end of the day we've got to look at whether it's too early [for him]. He came out here for just a bit of experience and to learn to work on his bowling.
"The other area is whether we use Collingwood as a bowler," Fletcher added. "That is quite critical and will be debated." Collingwood, whose Test debut came during England's last tour of the subcontinent - in Sri Lanka in December 2003 - was drafted in for the final Test against Australia last summer, and though he had little to show for his endeavours, he showed enough gumption in the most pressurised of circumstances to earn another opportunity.
Both he and Bell are handy fill-in bowlers in first-class cricket, although Collingwood has added an extra yard of pace in recent months, and troubled several batsmen during an energetic work-out this morning. "We still want to look at Bell as a batter, but that's probably the area we might have to look at at this stage," said Fletcher afterwards, which were strong words by his guarded standards.
There is still the best part of a fortnight until the Multan Test, so Fletcher refused to write off the prospects of the remaining members of the squad: James Anderson, Liam Plunkett and Shaun Udal. "I am very pleased that straightway the guys have shown the intent and intensity on this tour," he said. "They have put in some good work in the last three days."
He did not believe, however, that the glory of the Ashes victory was entirely out of their systems, and nor did he want it to be. "You've got to use it to your advantage," he explained, "because at the end of the day if you win the Ashes it can only give you confidence. We have to make sure we manage it though. What we don't want is overconfidence and complacency. If we have confidence and self-belief after beating Australia, then we can mix it with the best, because Pakistan is also a good side."
"It's a different scenario [to the Ashes]," Fletcher added. "It's difficult to beat Pakistan in Pakistan, but all tours away from home are very difficult. We've won at home, so now we've got to go and back up what we did in the summer
Bell, who made a pair in the Ashes-clinching fifth Test at The Oval last month, is likely to be the fall-guy if, as seems quite possible at this stage, England decide to go into the first Test at Multan with two spinners. Alex Loudon, who has been impressive in the early nets sessions, is currently ahead of Shaun Udal in the tour pecking order, while Paul Collingwood has been generating good pace on the sluggish wickets, and is once again being considered as an extra bowling option.
"At this stage I would like to see all 14 take part, but we will have to use our heads," Fletcher told reporters at the team hotel. "We are getting mixed messages as to what sort of wicket is being prepared, so I will let them use this as a practice game and let them get an idea about how the wicket will play. We don't want to go out there with the wrong mindset."
England used just 12 players in total in last summer's Ashes series, and had it not been for Jones's untimely ankle injury, they would have fielded an unchanged 11 for all five Tests. All of a sudden, however, there are two places up for grabs, although Fletcher was understandably wary about talking up Loudon's prospects of a first international call-up.
"He's been impressing us," Fletcher admitted, having kept close tabs on Loudon's progress during the first days of the tour, "but at the end of the day we've got to look at whether it's too early [for him]. He came out here for just a bit of experience and to learn to work on his bowling.
"The other area is whether we use Collingwood as a bowler," Fletcher added. "That is quite critical and will be debated." Collingwood, whose Test debut came during England's last tour of the subcontinent - in Sri Lanka in December 2003 - was drafted in for the final Test against Australia last summer, and though he had little to show for his endeavours, he showed enough gumption in the most pressurised of circumstances to earn another opportunity.
Both he and Bell are handy fill-in bowlers in first-class cricket, although Collingwood has added an extra yard of pace in recent months, and troubled several batsmen during an energetic work-out this morning. "We still want to look at Bell as a batter, but that's probably the area we might have to look at at this stage," said Fletcher afterwards, which were strong words by his guarded standards.
There is still the best part of a fortnight until the Multan Test, so Fletcher refused to write off the prospects of the remaining members of the squad: James Anderson, Liam Plunkett and Shaun Udal. "I am very pleased that straightway the guys have shown the intent and intensity on this tour," he said. "They have put in some good work in the last three days."
He did not believe, however, that the glory of the Ashes victory was entirely out of their systems, and nor did he want it to be. "You've got to use it to your advantage," he explained, "because at the end of the day if you win the Ashes it can only give you confidence. We have to make sure we manage it though. What we don't want is overconfidence and complacency. If we have confidence and self-belief after beating Australia, then we can mix it with the best, because Pakistan is also a good side."
"It's a different scenario [to the Ashes]," Fletcher added. "It's difficult to beat Pakistan in Pakistan, but all tours away from home are very difficult. We've won at home, so now we've got to go and back up what we did in the summer
) i hope england play like this in test series.
