A fortnight ago, Glenn Rogers was stricken by typhoid while on tour with Scotland’s cricketers in Kenya and was “absolutely devastated” at the possibility of missing out on next month’s World Cup. But yesterday, the 29 year-old Stenhousemuir allrounder was in joyous mood after being confirmed as part of the 15-man squad, which will venture to the Caribbean for the sport’s premier competition at the end of February.Unsurprisingly, it has been a fraught time for the Australian-born player, who now lives in Stirling with his wife, Sarah, and baby son, Cameron, but last night, even as he spelled out how he suffered agonising pain and endured dramatic weight loss during his sojourn to Mombasa for the World Cricket League, he expressed confidence that he would emerge stronger from the experience. “It has been a bit of a nightmare and basically, I could hardly believe what I was hearing when I was diagnosed with typhoid. At first I put it down to sunstroke, but suddenly I had terrible diarrhoea, bouts of vomiting, and my temperature shot through the roof, so much so that I was on fire at one stage,” said Rogers, who only made his debut for his adopted country shortly before Christmas.”Whilst this was happening, I did begin to worry what was going on. I lost 7ks (15lbs) in as many days and I joked to my team mates that at least if my cricket career was over, I would be able to get a job as a jockey. But, on the flight home to Scotland, I was utterly disconsolate and it seemed as if I had lost my World Cup chance. However, I have been on an intensive course of tablets – I come off them tomorrow – and I have had an interview with public health officials, as well as speaking to a specialist in tropical diseases in Aberdeen, and while I have to continue having tests, the authorities seem quite relaxed. I’m still not 100%, and I will have to work hard in the gym for the next few weeks, but that is no big deal when I think what I felt like at the beginning of February and my goal now is to be fit for the friendly against Sri Lanka on March 5.”Rogers’ rapid recovery has allowed the Scottish coach, Peter Drinnen, to choose the same squad, which was originally selected for the WCL, in which Craig Wright’s personnel finished as runners-up and qualified for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa in September. But, for the moment, Rogers, whose spin bowling in tandem with Majid Haq and Ross Lyons may prove crucial if the Scots are to have any chance of combating the superpowers of Australia and South Africa in their group, is simply relieved that he has rallied from an illness which still proves fatal to many people in Africa.”When I phoned Sarah to break the news that I had typhoid, she was really shocked, and her first thoughts were for Cameron, who is only five months old, but we have all pulled together and I am feeling better with every passing day,” said Rogers. “It feels incredible that I will be travelling to the West Indies in less than three weeks, but the Scotland team offered me incredible support when I was ill and I have to repay that faith in Barbados and St Kitts. All of us will certainly be giving it our best shot.”
Tom MoodyOn the preparations for this gameWe’re very happy with it. Obviously, it’s not ideal to practise away from the venue. But there are bigger things going on here at the stadium. But we have good sunshine and it’ll be good to play some cricket.On team selectionEveryone’s fit, but we’ll decide the playing XI tomorrow morning after taking a look at the conditions.On the team spirit and moraleIt’s very positive. Obviously, we had a very disappointing tour in the ODI series. We’re determined to turn things around. Unfortunately, we had a slow start with the weather in Chennai. But the confidence and hunger is there, and we have trained and prepared really well. The boys have done everything I could ask for, and are up for a challenge.On how they coped with the disruptions in ChennaiThe weather’s out of our control. I think we were more frustrated than the Indians. It may have been a blessing in disguise for them, with their heavy schedule. But it looks like we’ll get five days of Test cricket here.On whether there was any psychological advantage after the first TestWe’re coming in with more confidence and more momentum as a team. More self belief too. It was important that we bounce back after the ODIs. It’s how you bounce back after setbacks that shows a team’s character.On whether he was aware of India’s fitness concernsThat’s not my concern. My concern is preparing the Sri Lankan team. We’re 100 percent fit and ready to play.Marvan AtapattuOn the pitchWe just had a look at it, and it looks very different to the one in Chennai. It’s a different type of grass. There wasn’t a blade of grass on the one in Chennai since it was prepared for the South Africa one-day game. There’s some grass in the middle part of the pitch here.On what the Chennai display meant for the teamWhat we experienced over the one and a half days there was very important. It was really key for the whole team, and we gained a lot from the play that we got. They’re a very tough team to play in home conditions.On Vaas’s display in ChennaiOne of the big positives was Vaasy coming good. He’s our frontline bowler and has been for many years.On whether Sangakkara would continue to openSanga is not one of our opening batsmen, he’s our No.3. He had to open in Chennai only because I had been off the field, and couldn’t open the innings.
Twenty20 has swept across the globe with remarkable speed since its launch in England less than two years ago, and now Kenya has joined Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in adopting the short format game.A tournament run by the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association will start this weekend at various venues, and will not only involve teams from the capital but also two from the Coast Cricket Association in Mombasa. The finals are schedule to be held at Nairobi Gymkhana on March 13.The Kenyan Cricket Association had a Twenty20 competition flagged on its website to be held in December. But, like the KCA league and Kenyatta Cup, it never happened.Group A Nairobi Nookers, Qutbis, Nairobi Gymkhana A, Kanbis A, PremierGroup B Stray Lions, Kanbis B, Coast Gymkhana, Swamibapa A, Kongonis AGroup C Premier B, Sir Ali A, Swamibapa B, Parklands Rhinos, Ngara A, Aga Khan AGroup D Highway Hornets, Krishna XI, Nairobi Institute, Nairobi Jaffery A, Mombasa Sports ClubJanuary 22 Krishna XI v Nairobi Institute (Nairobi Jaffrey) Coast Gymkhana v Kongonis A (Nairobi Club)January 23 Nairobi Nookers v Nairobi Gymkhana (Nairobi Jaffrey) Kanbis v Coast Gymkhana (Eastleigh) Stray Lions v Kongonis A (Nairobi Club) Swamibapa B v Aga Khan (Aga Khan) Highway Hornets v Mombasa Sports Club (Premier Club) Qutbis A v Premier Club A (Premier Club) Premier Club B v Sir Ali A (Nairobi Jaffrey), Parklands Rhinos v Ngara A (Aga Khan) Kongonis B v Nairobi Jaffrey A (Nairobi Club) Krishna XI v Mombasa Sports Club (Eastleigh)
Northerns and Western Province look to be prime contenders to contest the SuperSport Series final in April after completion of the first round this week. Western Province had to settle for a draw against Boland while Northerns took care of Border inside three days.Easterns, KwaZulu-Natal, Griqualand West and Eastern Province will join the two runaway group leaders in the Super Six Series starting mid-February.The remaining teams Gauteng, Free State, North West, Boland and Border will play out for the Shield, also starting in February.This weekend’s matches saw KwaZulu-Natal leapfrog Free State for third spot in Pool B with a close win against Eastern Province. Needing 288 to win the Dolphins, thanks to a 90 from captain and Man of the Match Dale Benkenstein, managed to get the total with eight wickets down. Nixon McLean and Andrew Tweedie, with eight match wickets apiece, also played a big part in Natal reaching the Super Six stage of the competition.Justin Kemp’s 5/60 in the first innings did his national selection chances a lot of good but was not enough to help the Jumbos who had qualified for the second round before the start of the match.Northerns continued their unbeaten run with a three-day victory against luckless Border. Fine performances by Jacques Rudolph, scoring his third hundred of the season, and Steve Elworthy, with nine wickets in the match, must have drawn the attention of the national selectors. Rudolph also tops the batting averages while Elworthy has taken the most the wickets.Border, after being bowled out cheaply in the first innings, can thank ex-Dolphin Mark Bruyns for his hundred to take the match into day three.Gauteng will once again have to play in the Shield section of the second round after falling to neighbours Easterns. Injuries in the second innings, when Easterns were 59/6, to David Terbrugge, Franklyn Rose and Johnson Mafa did not help the Gauteng bowling department.Griqualand West, the surprise package of the season, finished off winless North West of inside three days. Once again it was the youngsters from Kimberley who continued to build on their pre-season form. Hundreds from Pietie Koortzen and Adrian McLaren in the first innings set the Northern Cape men up for the victory.Alfonso Thomas, with figures of 38-13-95-7, and Dirkie de Vos scoring 95 fought lone battles to try and keep North West in the game.Western Province, travelling to Boland, seemed to have the game in the bag after the openers put on 221, a double hundred from Andrew Puttick and a hundred from opener Graeme Smith.Boland responded well with a slow first innings after which the game was always heading for a draw. Claude Henderson strengthened his credentials with 5/129 in the drawn-out Boland innings.A break now of nearly three months from first class cricket is, however, questioned with the two series against Australia coming up. During the three-month layoff the only domestic competition taking place will be the one-day Standard Bank Cup competition.
ScorecardAngus Robson fund benefit in a rain-affected day•Getty Images
Leicestershire opener Angus Robson scored his seventh half-century of the season on a rain-shortened first day of the championship match against Gloucestershire at Grace Road.Heavy overnight rain left the outfield unfit for play until 12.40pm, after an early lunch had been taken.Will Tavare, captaining Gloucestershire in the absence of Michael Klinger, who has returned to Australia – though Klinger has confirmed he will return for his county’s Royal London Cup semi-final against Yorkshire at Headingley this Sunday – decided to field first after the winning the toss, but opening bowlers James Fuller and David Payne found less response from a greenish pitch than they must have hoped for.Robson and Ned Eckersley were able to score at a steady four an over until after 11 overs rain forced another break.The loss of the morning session had seen 16 overs taken from the day’s allocation of 96, and another heavy shower caused another 32 to be lost before it was possible to resume. Gloucestershire’s seamers bowled with more accuracy on the resumption, but Liam Norwell, coming down the hill from the Bennett End, was fortunate to pick up the wicket of Eckersley, who turned a leg-side long hop straight into the hands of Kieran Noema-Barnett at square leg.Robson, batting with patience and discipline, went to his 50 off 119 balls, but the persevering Norwell found the edge of his bat with an out-swinger on 61, and Gareth Roderick held a straightforward catch behind the stumps.”We’ve had a pretty good day, we would have taken that score at the start,” said Robson.”If you were prepared to hang in there you could get your rewards. I knew it was important to cut out some of my attacking shots, and I did that – the key was to leave as much as possible.”It was frustrating to get out so close to the close, I wanted to go and convert to three figures, but we’ve turned a corner in the last month or so and if we bat well tomorrow we’ll be ahead of the game.”Tavare said choosing to field first had not been straightforward. “In many ways it would have been a good toss to lose, as it certainly wasn’t an easy decision to put them in. Angus Robson batted well for them in a difficult period but I’m not too disappointed and we’ll be looking for early wickets tomorrow,” he said..
As if Luis Suarez hadn’t already made himself an easy target for the British media, the Liverpool forward has now made matters worse for himself, at least in the short-term, by declaring he wants to leave the Premier League due to the intense criticism he receives on the part of the press.
Of course, it is certainly a case of ‘no smoke without fire’ with a string of incidents and constant controversy triggering such a widespread adverse reaction to the Uraguayan’s behaviour, but regardless, Suarez has now become one of the summer’s most hotly desired purchases in Europe, along with Robert Lewandowski and Edinson Cavani.
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In addition to the tabloids making Suarez’s life more difficult, the Reds talisman also feels that his club have let him down in showing a lack of support following his eight match suspension for biting Branislav Ivanovic during an Anfield clash in April. The striker has openly admitted his preferred move would be to Real Madrid, who have reportedly been interested in his services for some time, however, if it is simply a new home that will show him more affection that Suarez is looking for, should some of the Premier League’s elite clubs consider making a bid for the want-away forward?
There is no denying Suarez’s abilities. The Liverpool forward showed talismanic powers during the first half of the season, being the Reds’ first port of call in building attacks, not to mention being the only player on the roster at Anfield who could provide a steady supply of goals. The Uruguayan international finished the season, all be it a few games short due to his ban, with 23 goals and 5 assists in 33 appearances, yet his rate of providing goals would have undoubtedly been much higher had he the benefit of Daniel Sturrridge as a strike partner for more than a handful of games.
There’s also some truth behind the claim that Suarez would have picked up the PFA Player of the Year award had he not such a negative stigmatism in the eyes of the footballing public. Whilst Bale’s come of age year has been truly incredible to witness at times, and Robin Van Persie has maintained his ruthless efficiency following his £20million transfer to Manchester United, Suarez has been on par in terms of performances and end product with both this season, but arguably deserves further praise for doing it at a club that struggled to get out of the bottom half of the Premier League table before the end of the year. Brendan Rodgers’ inaugural season at Anfield would have been much tougher had his only world-class talent not been firing on all cylinders, and it’s obvious why Suarez’ transfer situation has brought interest from the Bernabeu.
Yet, just as his capabilities as a football are well known, so are his shortcomings as a professional. Although time and the reasoning of cultural ignorance has allowed us to put Suarez’ racial slur at Patrice Evra behind us, it is hardly the first or last showing where the striker’s desperate competitiveness has pushed him towards erratic behaviour. The bite on Ivanovic was the second incident of that kind during his career, the first coming in the Eredivisie and earning him the nickname ‘the cannibal’ in Holland, whilst over the course of the current season, television coverage has caught Suarez partaking in x-rated shin rakes and dirty tackles on more than one occasion – his ten yellow cards tell its own story, yet the tally could easily have been higher and included red cards.
But as previously stated, Suarez’s quality is simply undeniable. At his best he is unplayable, and when the balance between competitive aggression and composure is reached, there are arguably none better at fulfilling the Reds man’s role as a hard-working front man that encompasses the passing and dribbling ability of an attacking midfielder, in addition to the poacher’s instinct of a natural striker.
If a Premier League club is to convince Suarez to stay on English shores however, they will have to waggle an incredibly delicious carrot in front of him, whilst also being incredibly refrained in their use of the stick. Considering his ability, it seems that he would only be available to the Premiership’s top three, all of whom have an assured future in Europe barring a few hiccups and also have relatively equal standing in the title race next season. The promise of accolades and trophies could be enough for Suarez to reconsider a move to La Liga, yet, as ever in the modern age of football, it will also take a rather sizable pay-cheque to convince him to put up with the constant heckling of the British media for the foreseeable future.
That being said, would Manchester United, Manchester City or Chelsea be willing to actually pursue the intensely disliked Suarez? All three have the financial power at their disposal to do so, and all three need bolstering up front this summer, however it still seems an unrealistic possibility.
It’s unlikely he’d receive a warm welcome at Old Trafford, especially whilst Patrice Evra is still there, but even if the Frenchman took a widely rumoured pay-out and moved to Monaco over the summer, his history with Liverpool will undoubtedly make him a boo-boy amongst the fans. Similarly, although Jose Mourinho enjoys the limelight of his own controversy, only a matter of months has passed since Suarez tried to take a chunk out of the arm of a fan favourite at Stamford Bridge.
It leaves the only viable option as Manchester City, yet I’m sure the SkyBlues would much rather put an era of babysitting their stars in case of temper tantrums behind them with the appointment of Manuel Pellegrini, after his predecessor Roberto Mancini had to put up with the egotistical, childish antics of Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez behind them.
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That being said, Suarez and the Premier League is a combination that clearly works. Whereas Edinson Cavani and Robert Lewandowski are untested in the English top flight, the Liverpool forward has a record of 38 goals in 77 domestic appearances. Similarly, his price tag, set at £40million due to his release clause, is relatively cheap considering the star quality that Suarez provides, in comparison to Bale, with estimates ranging from £50million to £80million, and Cavani, who would also cost somewhere in the region of £50million. It’s the kind of transfer that may not go down well with the supporters at first, but could lead to silverware and titles should Suarez’s antics be kept to a minimum.
My humble opinion is however that the Premier League’s love-hate relationship with Suarez has come to an end. It’s quite clear that he would much rather ply his trade abroad, citing how the pressure from the media is venturing into his personal life, and I cannot foresee either David Moyes, Manuel Pellegrini or Jose Mourinho desperate to convince him otherwise. In some ways, the Liverpool striker has brought it upon himself, as his incidents have often verged upon being unforgivable, but it is a shame that the media have ostracised and pushed away one of the English top flight’s biggest talents, who will now undoubtedly move on to a higher calling.
Regarding the proposed move to Real Madrid however – has his agent actually informed him of the intensity in terms of volume and criticism of the Spanish media? Compared to their La Liga counter-parts, the British press is an ignorant, loudmouthed lout, rather than an intrusive and overwhelming monster.
New Zealand have the perfect chance to lift their sagging Test cricket fortunes when they face Bangladesh at the start of a two-Test series in Dunedin on Friday. Fresh from a 3-0 walloping of the visitors in the one-day series, the home side are looking to find their touch in the longer version of the game.While ranked number three in the world in one-day internationals, New Zealand languish at number seven in the Test rankings. “Two wins against Bangladesh are pretty precious to us,” Daniel Vettori said. “We haven’t played a lot of test cricket and when we have we haven’t been going too well.”In the last year, their only Test opponents have been South Africa, who cantered to two massive victories in a short series in November. New Zealand need to regain some confidence before England arrive next month for a tour which includes three Tests.New Zealand and Bangladesh have played four Tests and New Zealand have won all of them by more than an innings. Bangladesh have played a total of 49 Tests, winning once against Zimbabwe and racking up 43 losses and five draws.Bangladesh’s coach Jamie Siddons, was not making any outlandish claims for his team ahead of the Test. “We’ve got a lot of young boys that are going to have a lot of bad days before they have some good ones,” he said. “How will we react? We’re capable of anything. We could respond really well, or we could capitulate — that’s how good we are.”Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh’s captain, was looking ahead to bettering the country’s Test record. “”My New Year’s resolution revolves around seeing the team better its Test record and become more competitive in this form of the game,” Ashraful was quoted as saying in the Tigercricket.com. “It’s fair to admit that we haven’t improved as expected in Tests in the last eight years.”For New Zealand, batsmen Scott Styris, Jamie How, and Ross Taylor and spinner Jeetan Patel have all been left out after playing in the one-day series. Matthew Bell, who has scored heavily in domestic first class cricket, has been recalled after a six-year absence and will open the batting with Craig Cumming.Matthew Sinclair, called in as cover during the South Africa tour, has been retained for the Bangladesh series. Experienced campaigner Styris paid the price for scoring a total of 59 runs in four innings against South Africa. Dunedin’s University Oval will be hosting its first ever Test and the quality of the pitch could become a focus of controversy.A recent first class match ended within two days after seamers exploited an unusually damp and green surface, although authorities have been working hard to bring it up to Test standard. New Zealand will take a four prong pace attack into the match, with a decision between Michael Mason and Iain O’Brien still to be made.”Today [in the practice session] it was more a case of getting used to the wicket and playing out the deliveries,” Shahriar Nafees, Bangladesh’s opening batsman, said. “The ball tends to stop a little and doesn’t come on to the bat at pace. Playing in the V is probably a better option on this wicket.”Otago Cricket chief executive Ross Dykes expressed confidence that the pitch would hold up for some good cricket. “It’s looking good,” he told Stuff.co.nz. “Apart from a bit of rain today which is a bit of a nuisance, everything seems to be on target. A lot of focus went on it, a lot of it was slightly exaggerated, but there certainly has been significant effort put into making sure all that can be done has been done. We are confident we have a satisfactory pitch. [We have been] ensuring the moisture content is maintained at the right level and the density of the grass is as it should be, but these things are governed by the weather.”Vettori said he would insert the opponents in if he won the toss. “There will probably be a little bit in it early and then it’ll flatten out. It was almost a blessing in disguise for the ground. It put so much spotlight on it they had to put a lot of effort into getting it right,” he said. The spikes go in pretty easily so that’s a good sign. There will be a little bit of moisture in it early on before it turns into a road.”Bangladesh are attempting to strengthen their lineup by flying in top order batsmen Habibul Bashar and Nafees and spinner Enamul Haque following the one-dayers. The first Test starts on January 4. Squads New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (capt), Craig Cumming, Matthew Bell, Peter Fulton, Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum (wk), Kyle Mills, Michael Mason, Iain O’Brien, Chris Martin (12th man to be named).Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddique, Shariah Nafees, Habibul Bashar, Aftab Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Rajin Saleh, Mushfiq Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza (vcapt), Abdur Razzak, Farhad Reza, Enamul Haque, Shahadat Hossain, Sajidul Islam.
Damien Fleming, who helped swing Australia to the 1999 trophy, believes Ben Hilfenhaus is a “natural” one-day bowler and should be considered for the World Cup in the West Indies. Hilfenhaus opened with Nathan Bracken on debut in Hobart on Sunday and impressed in his first spell before picking up 1 for 26 off seven overs.Fleming said Hilfenhaus, 23, was the “real deal” and he “ticks a lot of the selection-criteria boxes”. “Ideally, the selectors would like to have a right-arm outswing bowler in every squad,” Fleming told . “He’s a natural for one-day cricket because, firstly, he’s accurate.”Secondly, he swings the ball so he becomes a wicket-taking option. And thirdly, he bowls a quicker bouncer and yorker so there’s not too much he needs to learn.” Australia’s selectors expect to take five fast men to the World Cup and they currently have plenty of choice with Mitchell Johnson performing well alongside Nathan Bracken.Hilfenhaus discovered 90 minutes before the start of the game that he would replace Glenn McGrath, who had groin soreness. “It has definitely been a fast ride for me,” Hilfenhaus said in the Hobart Mercury. “I might wake up one day and I will be back to reality.”Starting with a maiden, Hilfenhaus grabbed his opening wicket with the final delivery of his second over when he trapped Brendon McCullum lbw with a ball that went straight instead of moving away. “I was very pleased to get the first one out of the way,” he said. “It was a good feeling when you see the finger going up.” He also finished the 105-run win by taking the final catch.Hilfenhaus, who grew up in Ulverston in northern Tasmania, worked as a bricklayer before making his state debut last season. He is only the second Tasmanian fast bowler to play for Australia after Greg Campbell, who is Ricky Ponting’s uncle, but he is unlikely to appear in Brisbane when Australia face England on Friday. McGrath’s injury is not serious and Brett Lee could return after suffering a chest infection.
Pakistan took a firm grip on the second Test at Faisalabad thanks to some brutal batting in the morning session and perseverance from their bowlers. England closed on 113 for 3, still 349 in arrears and with a number of batsmen struggling for form. The pitch remained nearly perfect and England will still believe they can bat their way out of trouble, but they seemed determined to make things hard for themselves.It was a day of entertainment, drama and controversy. In the morning Pakistan batted with flair and such was the ferocity of the assault that the cricket often bore more resemblance to a one-day match than a Test. That session was rather overshadowed by the unfortunate dismissal of Inzamam-ul-Haq soon after he had equalled Javed Miandad’s record of 23 Test hundreds for Pakistan. And when England batted, some good bowling from Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was followed by a short delay caused by an exploding gas cylinder, and then Shahid Afridi clearly and deliberately appeared to scuff the pitch on a length during a drinks break. His ill-timed act was spotted by the umpires, and the referee rightly slammed him with a three-match ban at a hearing shortly after the end of the dayThat was a shame as Pakistan were doing the hard work and again had the best of the day, and it was Afridi who set them on their way with a continuation of the blistering assault he started last night. At the close yesterday he told reporters that he would take things easy against the new ball this morning. He obviously slept on it and changed his mind, and from the off looked to attack. Even Inzamam, who had played a solid anchor innings yesterday, appeared just as keen to open up.
While Andrew Flintoff was treated with caution, Matthew Hoggard was not afforded the same respect. Inzamam hammered him for successive fours and then Afridi slammed him for two sixes and a four off consecutive balls as the first five-and-a-half overs yielded 46 runs and England’s fielders scattered to all parts. But on 92, Afridi felt at one from Hoggard and edged low to Marcus Trescothick at wide slip. After a delay while all and sundry thought long and hard – the ball only just carried – Afridi departed, his electrifying 86-ball innings over, and England might have expected that some semblance of normality would return to proceedings.Inzamam, after a brief attack of nerves in the nineties, reached his hundred, celebrating with a rare grin, but the smile was soon wiped off his face. He played a full toss back to Steve Harmison, and the bowler immediately threw down his stumps. The third umpire was called upon, but while the batsman was marginally out, it looked to the naked eye as if Inzamam lifted his back foot while taking evasive action, and according to laws, that is not out. It was a poor decision, and one not even given with the excuse of the officials acting in the heat of the moment. Inzamam departed with a bewildered look on his face, while outside the boundary ropes Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, was more animated. It was an unfitting end to a fine innings.Kamran Akmal, who got off the mark with a sumptuous cover drive, Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Sami all chipped in with breezy cameos as England spent an increasing amount of time chasing the ball or watching it disappear into the stands. And after lunch, Shoaib deposited Harmison into the delirious crowd twice in three balls before perishing attempting it once too often.
Flintoff and Harmison bowled well and were given a degree of respect, but Michael Vaughan’s options were limited by the ineffectiveness of his spinners. When Ashley Giles was brought into the attack he was immediately smacked for six and although he picked up two late wickets, he did not look to have the control or guile to contain, let alone threaten, and he was also clearly troubled by his hip injury. Shaun Udal wasn’t even called upon until seven minutes before the break, and his first ball was hammered to the cover boundary in an over which yielded 10 runs. Pakistan set out from the off to disrupt England’s spinners, and it was a ploy which was highly successful.Trescothick and Andrew Strauss saw off the new ball without alarm, but just as the crowd grew quieter and the fielders’ body language showed signs of frustration, the impressively accurate Naved-ul-Hasan struck twice. Firstly, Strauss, who again looked unsettled, bottom-edged an ambitious pull into his stumps, and then Vaughan was cleaned up by a fast, straight yorker and his middle stump was sent cartwheeling. In his brief stay Vaughan almost accounted for Trescothick who was forced to live full-length after a mix-up, scrambling home by inches.The in-form pair of Trescothick and Ian Bell then batted sensibly against pace and spin, but as England’s thoughts turned to the close, Trescothick tried to cut Mohammad Sami and Akmal held a good low catch. It was a vital blow given that Trescothick is England’s form batsman by a country mile, and one which will raise Pakistan hopes that even on this shirtfront, they have the firepower to wrap the series up, or at worst to ensure that England go to Lahore one down.
Shahid Afridi c Trescothick b Hoggard 92 (346 for 5) Edged low to wide slipInzamam-ul-Haq run out (Harmison) 109 (369 for 6) Controversial decision after bowler threw down stumps at striker’s endNaved-ul-Hasan b Harmison 25 (403 for 7) Played lifter down and ball span back into stumps Mohammad Sami c & b Giles 18 (431 for 8) Patted softly back to bowlerKamran Akmal c Jones b Giles 41 (446 for 9) Bottom edge attempting to cutShoaib Akhtar c Flintoff b Harmison 12 (462) Holed out to long on attempting third six in four balls
Andrew Strauss b Naved-ul-Hasan 12 (33 for 2) Bottom-edged attempted pull into stumpsMichael Vaughan b Naved-ul-Hasan 2 (39 for 2) Lost middle stump to fast yorkerMarcus Trescothick c Akmal b Sami 48 (107 for 3) Bottom edge to attempted cut, taken low down