KARACHI: Members of the Pakistan cricket team wore black armbands during the opening day's play in their first Test against England to mourn the death of the 152 people killed in Wednesday’s plane crash in Islamabad.

Meanwhile Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt, on Thursday, offered condolences to the bereaved families from the board officials and players. —Agencies

MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia will back a New Zealand candidate as International Cricket Council vice president due to opposition to its own nomination, former Australian prime minister John Howard.

New Zealand Cricket has proposed its chairman, businessman Alan Isaac, for the role and Cricket Australia said in a statement on Friday it now supported that nomination.

The Australian board reaffirmed Howard’s credentials and said it was “disappointed and most concerned by the ICC Executive Board’s lack of support of his nomination, and regards it as completely unacceptable that no reason has been provided as to why he has not been accepted.”

The former Australian prime minister’s nomination was voted down at an ICC executive board meeting in Singapore in early July by six of 10 test-playing nations voting mainly along racial lines.

His election should have been a formality as, by convention, the vice presidency changes hands every two years on a rotational basis. After two years the vice president becomes the ICC president.

“The CA board accepts that the New Zealand nominee, Mr. Alan Isaac, is eminently qualified to fill the role of ICC vice president and president, and given the stance of the ICC Executive Board with the nomination of Mr. Howard, will support his name being forwarded to the ICC for ratification,” Cricket Australia said in the statement.

Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke said the board remained disappointed that the joint Australia-New Zealand nomination of Howard had not been supported by the ICC board, particularly as Australia and New Zealand had previously complied with the rotational ICC vice presidential nomination process.

“We still have been given no official reason why a strongly credentialed candidate of Mr. Howard’s qualifications, skill and stature was not supported,” Clarke said.

“Our directors were today very strongly of the view that Mr. Howard continues to be the best candidate CA could nominate. We are not prepared to suggest another candidate but given it is clear Mr. Howard will not be supported, we clearly have to consider a new approach.

“Accordingly, we are pleased to support New Zealand Cricket’s suggestion that Alan Isaac be nominated for the role.”

Howard, a conservative, was Australian prime minister for 11 years before his Coalition government was swept from power in 2007.

While he has been a regular attendee at test matches and describes himself as a “cricket tragic,” he doesn’t have experience as a cricket administrator. His name should have been submitted in January but even Australia and New Zealand initially were divided over his selection.

Zimbabwe, which was angered by Howard’s successful efforts to keep it out of the Commonwealth, spearheaded the opposition. —AP

India, replying to Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 642-4 declared, were all out for 707 just before lunch on the fifth morning at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Friday.

The total was just 19 runs short of India’s Test record of 726-9 declared against the same opposition at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai last year.

Sri Lanka went to lunch on 19-0 in two overs with Tharanga Paranavitana and Tillakaratne Dilshan on five runs apiece.

With just 14 wickets having fallen on the placid pitch so far, a stalemate appears a certainty, with Sri Lanka leading 1-0 in the three-match series after winning the first Test in Galle by 10 wickets.

The final Test starts at the P. Sara Oval in the Sri Lankan capital on Tuesday.

India’s last-wicket pair of Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha, who resumed at the overnight score of 669-9, batted until 20 minutes before lunch to put on a partnership of 39 runs.

Sharma finally fell for 27, caught in the gully region off fast bowler Dilhara Fernando, leaving Ojha unbeaten on 18.

All four frontline Sri Lankan bowlers conceded more than 100 runs in India’s innings, with debutant off-spinner Suraj Randiv going for 2-222 from 73 overs.

Unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis finished with 4-172, fast bowler Dilhara Fernando claimed 1-116 and seamer Dammika Prasad went for 0-101.

Part-time spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan was the lone bowler to contain the Indians with figures of 3-56 from 27 overs.

India’s innings was marked by Sachin Tendulkar’s 203, his fifth double-century, while debutant Suresh Raina made 120 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit 76. – AFP

The 22,000-capacity stadium, being constructed in Pallekele in Muralitharan’s home district of Kandy, is due to host three matches of the World Cup in South Asia in February-March.

The Central Provincial Council in Kandy decided to name the venue as the Muttiah Muralitharan International Cricket Stadium to honour the recently retired spinner, the Daily Mirror said.

The move had the backing of the provincial governor, Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, and will be put to Sri Lanka Cricket shortly, the newspaper said.

Muralitharan, 38, quit Test cricket last week after reaching the unprecedented 800-wicket mark during the first Test against India in Galle.

He is also the leading wicket-taker in one-day cricket with 515 scalps and said he will be available for the World Cup if needed.

The matches in Pallekele are Pakistan v New Zealand on March 8, Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe on March 10 and Pakistan v Zimbabwe on March 14.

Sri Lanka, which co-hosts the showpiece tournament with India and Bangladesh, will organise 12 matches at three venues.

The other venues are the under-renovation Premadasa stadium in Colombo and a new cricket facility being built in Hambantota in the island’s south. – AFP

NOTTINGHAM: Eoin Morgan insisted he’d never had any doubts about his ability to succeed at the highest level after a debut Test century left England well-placed in their series opener with Pakistan.

Morgan’s 125 not out helped England end the first day of a four-Test series on 331 for four.

Together with Paul Collingwood (81 not out), he’d so far put on 213 — an England fifth-wicket record against Pakistan, surpassing the 192 put on by Trevor Bailey and Denis Compton at Trent Bridge back in 1954, after the side had been in trouble at 118 for four.

Morgan’s century came in only his third innings at this level and was way in excess of his previous best of 45 against Bangladesh earlier in the season.

“It’s extremely satisfying,” said former Ireland international Morgan.

“To score a Test-match hundred in only my third game is a great achievement and I’m extremely proud of myself,” the 23-year-old left-hander added.

“It’s huge — a massive moment in my career.”

Morgan, the first Irish-born batsman to score a Test hundred for England in over a century, since Frederick Fane made 143 against South Africa at Johannesburg back in 1906, might have been left out if Ian Bell had not been ruled out with a broken foot.

“I don’t see it in that circumstance,” said 23-year-old Middlesex batsman Morgan after an innings that will have bolstered his case for a berth in England’s XI when they begin the defence of the Ashes in Australia in November.

“I see it as an opportunity to score runs.”Morgan, best known as an innovative one-day player, went to his century in style with a straight six against off-spinner Shoaib Malik.

“The feeling of getting to three figures was fantastic,” said Morgan. “I was glad he lobbed it up.

“I was expecting him to dart it in and maybe nurdle it for one. But when he threw it up I had to free up my hands and throw everything at it.”

England, who saw captain Andrew Strauss win the toss and bat, struggled early on in overcast, swing-friendly conditions, with teenage left-arm quick Mohammad Aamer leading Pakistan’s attack impressively with three wickets for 39 runs in 19 overs.

“I think the major factor today was I allowed myself to get in under difficult circumstances.

“It did a lot early on, but me and Paul set up a great platform for ourselves to get past that swing and we took advantage when the wicket went flat and the ball went soft.”

Morgan, asked if he’d answered questions about whether he had the temperament and ability for Test cricket, replied: “I think I have. I also think I’ve improved my game a lot and I’m still improving, especially in this form of the game, so hopefully I’ll have a lot more to contribute.

“I don’t think I have any doubt in my talent. I’m a very confident player and I like expressing myself.”

The controversial Umpire Decision Review System (DRS) was used in England for the first time on Thursday and Morgan might not have reached his hundred without it.

He’d made 78 when he was given out leg before by Sri Lanka umpire Asoka de Silva off the bowling of leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.

But Morgan signalled for a review and was reprieved after replays showed the ball sliding past leg stump.

“I had a bit of doubt in my mind, but I walked down the wicket and Colly said I should review it, so that knocked it on the head,” Morgan said.

“It’s the first time I’ve used the system. It’s been a bit different.” -AFP

ENGLAND’S obsession with the Ashes does not seem to fade away. From the first ever Test in 1877 to their first Ashes Test in 1882 till now the focus does not appear to shift.

Right from the start of the present summer to the start of this first Test against Pakistan and not forgetting of course the two Tests that Australia played against Pakistan, hardly a day passes without comments on England’s ability to take on Australia in the next Ashes series in November. Like Pakistan playing India, the ultimate for an English cricketer is to play against the old cobber. That is what they think is the mother of all cricket. A series against any other nation, the media and the rest consider it an appetiser.

But they all know from experience there is always many a slip between the cup and the lip. Even against Pakistan they have suffered torrid times in three successive home series — in 1987, 1992 and 1996 — when Imran Khan, and Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, history’s two most devastating fast bowlers, made the English batsmen dance to their tune.

You have to have role models to emulate and there is no doubt the present lot of pace bowlers in Pakistan’s armoury featuring Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul have done them proud the way they have combined pace with swing. The way the three bowled on the morning of the first day’s play here and after lunch as the ball seamed off the pitch, it does speak a lot of their skill and stamina to pin the batsmen down.

There was not much respite for either Andrew Strauss or Alastair Cook or those who followed them as Pakistan’s bowlers bowled aggressively with nagging accuracy to exploit the wicket.

Momentarily, I suppose, the whole attention of the English batsmen shifted from cementing a place for the Ashes tour to that of survival in the pre-lunch session and immediately after. Had Kamran Akmal not dropped a sitter when Strauss (on 15) edged Aamir Pakistan could have gone to lunch in a much happier mode. Because of the reprieve they let the English captain and Jonathan Trott put on 51 useful runs for the second wicket in a difficult period.

Kevin Pietersen, back in the side and out of form, looked a shadow of himself as Asif keeping a good line seamed the ball, eventually dismissing him with one that cut in. The value of keeping the ball up to the batsmen on an English surface reaped another rich reward when Trott padded up Aamir and was adjudged leg before wicket after referral.

As the wicket settled down things however started to look good for Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan who, taking advantage of some loose deliveries, started to turn the game in England’s favour. Ashes or not an interesting contest is obviously in the

offing.

Former Ireland left-hander Morgan was 125 not out, having never even made a fifty in his previous two innings at this level, both against Bangladesh earlier in the English season.

Together with Paul Collingwood (81 not out), he shared an England record fifth wicket stand against Pakistan of 213 unbroken, surpassing the 192 put on by Trevor Bailey and Denis Compton at Trent Bridge back in 1954.

Middlesex middle-order batsman Morgan reached his hundred in style with a straight driven six against off-spinner Shoaib Malik as he completed a 151-ball century, also featuring 16 fours, in just over three hours at the crease.

However, Morgan had modern technology to thank for avoiding being dismissed on five and then 78 on the first day of a four-Test series.

The 23-year-old was in single figures when wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal appealed for a catch off left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Aamer.

But even before the third umpire ruled in Morgan’s favour, boos rang round Trent Bridge as replays on the giant screen showed the ball had bounced into the keeper’s gloves.

Morgan was in sight of a century when the Umpire Decision Review System (DRS), being used in England for the first time, came to his rescue.

He got an lbw decision given by Sri Lanka’s Asoka de Silva off the bowling of leg-spinner Danish Kaneria overturned after replays showed the ball sliding past leg stump.

England were 118 for four, shortly after lunch, when Morgan came in.

They’d lost two wickets for two runs in five balls — including star batsman Kevin Pietersen who was out for just nine in his first match since suffering a thigh injury against Australia in a one-day international at Lord’s on July 3.

But England fought back although Collingwood should have been out for 48 when Kamran Akmal, who had a poor first day, missed a routine stumping chance off leg-spinner Kaneria.

Collingwood went on to complete a 114-ball fifty with six fours.

Pakistan wasted both their two permitted unsuccessful DRS challenges on appeals in successive Mohammad Asif overs for lbw and caught behind against Pietersen. But Asif then bowled Pietersen off the inside edge.

England’s other South Africa-born batsman, Jonathan Trott, had added just three to his lunchtime 35 when he padded up to an inswinger from Aamer.

But, having succceeded with an earlier referral, Trott saw replays confirm New Zealand umpire Tony Hill’s lbw verdict.

England’s fifth-wicket pair cashed in against Pakistan’s slow bowlers and Morgan made it six boundaries in 12 deliveries with a trademark reverse sweep off Kaneria.

Before lunch the 18-year-old Aamer, who took seven wickets in Pakistan’s dramatic three-wicket second Test win over Australia at Headingley last week, had Alastair Cook caught at first slip and saw Strauss, who had been dropped by Kamran Akmal on 15, caught behind for 45.

Trott then became the first batsman to use DRS in England when, on 13, he was given out, lbw to Kaneria, by de Silva only for replays to show he’d got an inside edge.

Pakistan players wore black armbands in memory of the 152 people killed after an airplane crashed near the capital city of Islamabad on Wednesday. -AFP

Score: England 190-4 vs Pakistan.

COLOMBO: Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar hit 203 and debutant Suresh Raina made 120 as India bettered Sri Lanka’s run-spree in the high-scoring second cricket Test on Thursday.

India, kept on the field for the first two days during Sri Lanka’s massive 642-4 declared, responded by piling up 669-9 by stumps on the fourth day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

With just 13 wickets having fallen on the placid wicket in four days, the batsman-dominated Test is heading for a draw with Sri Lanka enjoying a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Tendulkar and Raina, who came together on the third afternoon with India on 241-4 and struggling to avoid their second successive follow-on, put on 256 runs for the fifth wicket.

Tendulkar compiled his fifth double-century, adding another feather to a glorious 168-Test career marked by more runs (13,742) and hundreds (48) than any other batsman in history.

He is also the leading one-day batsman with 17,598 runs and 46 hundreds, including the only double-century in limited-overs internationals.

The 37-year-old braved the stifling hot and humid weather in the Sri Lankan capital for more than eight hours to play a marathon innings studded with 23 boundaries and a six.

Tendulkar reached the 200-mark, his first in six years, with a flick off Ajantha Mendis for two runs, earning warm applause from team-mates and spectators alike.

Left-hander Raina became the ninth Indian to score a century in his first Test innings, before holing out to short mid-wicket off Mendis shortly after lunch.

Raina, just 23 and already a veteran of 98 one-day internationals, was awarded his Test cap only after Yuvraj Singh reported sick on the opening day of the match.

He hit two sixes and 12 boundaries, reaching his century with a fluent off-drive against seamer Dammika Prasad that raced to the fence.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (76) joined in the run feast after Raina’s departure, adding 95 for the sixth wicket with Tendulkar and 51 for the eighth with Abhimanyu Mithun (41).

It was left to part-time spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan to get rid of Tendulkar soon after tea as wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene held a bat-pad catch moving swiftly to the silly point area.

Dilshan also dismissed Harbhajan Singh in the same over and later took a return catch off Dhoni to finish with three wickets.

Sri Lanka missed the wicket-taking abilities of the retired Muttiah Muralitharan and injured fast bowler Lasith Malinga as the young crop of bowlers failed to contain the Indians.

Mendis finished with 4-157 from his 54 overs, while off-spinner Suraj Randiv failed to add to his two wickets on the third day and returned with 2-212 in 64 overs.

Muralitharan and Malinga had claimed 15 of the 20 Indian wickets in the first Test in Galle last week, which Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets. —AFP

Scoreboard at the close of the first day of the first test between England and Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Thursday.

England first innings
A. Strauss c Kamran Akmal b Mohammad Aamer 45
A. Cook c Imran Farhat b Mohammad Aamer 8
J. Trott lbw b Mohammad Aamer 38
K. Pietersen b Mohammad Asif 9
P. Collingwood not out 81
E. Morgan not out 125
Extras: (b-5, lb-8, w-5, nb-7) 25
Total (four wickets; 90 overs) 331
Fall of wickets: 1-42 2-93 3-116 4-118

Still to bat: M.Prior, G.Swann, S.Broad, J.Anderson, S.Finn.

Bowling: Aamer 19-4-39-3 (1w), Asif 20-6-65-1, Gul 16-4-58-0 (2nb), Kaneria 21-0-100-0 (2nb), Malik 11-2-39-0, Ali 1-0-9-0, Amin 1-0-3-0, Farhat 1-0-5-0.

Pakistan: Salman Butt (captain), Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif.

Toss: England

Umpires: Tony Hill (NZL) and Asoka de Silva (SRI)

TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

NOTTINGHAM: Pakistan quick Mohammad Aamer carried on from where he left off against Australia by removing both England openers on the first morning of the first Test at Trent Bridge here Thursday.

England, at lunch, were 103 for two after teenage left-arm paceman Aamer had taken two wickets for 19 runs in eight overs.

Aamer, who took seven wickets in Pakistan’s dramatic three-wicket second Test win over Australia at Headingley last week, had Alastair Cook caught at first slip and eventually had England captain Andrew Strauss, who won the toss, caught behind for 45.

South Africa born batsmen Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen were 35 and one not out respectively in the first of this four-Test series.

Strauss had a huge reprieve when, on 15, he edged an outswinger from the 18-year-old Aamer only for wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal to drop the routine chance despite getting both hands to the ball.

England were then 22 without loss in the fifth over.

Cook struggled in overcast conditions similar to those in which Pakistan bowled Australia out for just 88 in the first innings at Headingley.

Cook, scraped eight in 38 minutes before giving Aamer a deserved wicket when, squared up, he edged to first slip Imran Farhat, with England 42 for one in the ninth over.

Trott then got a fortunate edge first ball to a swinging Aamer delivery.

Strauss’s off-drive against Umar Gul brought up England’s fifty.

Trott then took advantage of the fact the Decision Review System (DRS) was in use for this series when, on 13, he fell lbw to leg-spinner Danish Kaneria by Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva.

Trott immediately signalled for a review and replays showed he’d got an inside edge, prompting de Silva to reverse his original verdict.

Pakistan did have another wicket though when Aamer, returning for a second spell, induced a flat-footed Strauss to playing loosely outside off-stump and this time a gleeful Kamran Akmal made no mistake as a 75-ball innings featuring six fours came to end and with it a second-wicket stand of 51.

Pakistan players wore black armbands in memory of the 152 people killed in after an airplane crashed near the capital city of Islamabad on Wednesday. —AFP

NEW DELHI: Record-breaking Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and retired Indian legend Anil Kumble plan to join hands to set up a spin academy for youngsters, the players were quoted as saying on Thursday.

Muralitharan, who quit Test cricket last week after a final match against India in Galle, said he had first discussed the academy with leg-spinner Kumble two years ago and was now likely to take it up.

“I would like to be a part of it,” Muralitharan told The Indian Express. “I am not planning a career in coaching but if Anil starts his academy, I will be happy to go.”

Muralitharan is the world’s highest wicket-taker in both Tests (800) and one-day internationals (515).

“It is in the pipeline. But it is Anil’s call because he is arranging things for setting up the academy in Bangalore,” he added.

Kumble quit Test cricket last year with 619 wickets, the third highest after Muralitharan and Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne (708).

“I have been in touch with Muralitharan,” said Kumble. “However after his retirement from Tests I have not been able to speak to him. At the moment he must be busy with all the felicitations and he truly deserves it.

“Once he is free and I have time on my hands, we will sit down and chalk out plans in detail,” the leg-spinner was quoted as saying by the paper. —AFP

NOTTINGHAM: Stuart Broad has admitted his father will have family bragging rights until he too is a member of an England team that has won an Ashes series in Australia.

England begin their defence of the Ashes in Australia in November knowing that not since 1986/87 have they won a Test series ‘Down Under’.

Chris Broad, now an International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee, but then an opening batsman played a key role in that series in Australia with hundreds in three successive Tests.

Stuart Broad, primarily a right-arm seamer but also, like his father, a left-hand bat, was just a few months old when Chris set off for a tour that has become etched in English memories.

Broad junior has already followed in his father’s footsteps once by moving from his original county (in his case Leicestershire) to play for Nottinghamshire, at whose Trent Bridge headquarters he is set to feature for England in the first Test against Pakistan here on Thursday.

Now Stuart, whose five-wicket haul in last year’s final Test against Australia at The Oval helped England regain the Ashes 2-1, wants to be on the winning side in Australia as well.

“We had a video called ‘On Top Down Under’, which was about the (1986/87) series and I always used to watch it,” Stuart Broad told the Independent newspaper. “With pride too, because of my dad’s role.

“Whenever we talk about our careers, dad will always have the upper hand until we have won in Australia,” added Broad, who heads into the Pakistan opener on the back of a first-class best of eight wickets for 52 runs for Nottinghamshire against Warwickshire.

He also said Australia, held recently to a 1-1 series draw in England by Pakistan, now looked a less formidable side than the one that dominated Ashes contests throughout the 1990s until England won in 2005 only to lose 5-0 on the subsequent tour.

“Any team that loses (Shane) Warne, (Glenn) McGrath, (Matthew) Hayden, (Justin) Langer, (Adam) Gilchrist in the space of two years is not going to be as strong as when these boys were in their pomp.

“But they still have world-class players.”

“Even so, I feel this England team has an opportunity to create a legacy for the future in the same way as my father’s team.”

And England batsman Paul Collingwood insisted: “Everybody in the team is very confident that we can do it this time round. That’s genuine confidence.

“We’ve had a good 18 months. We’ve had the building blocks, continued to grow and get things right.”

He added: “I think we’re ready. It really has come at a time when we can say we’ll be as ready as we can ever be.

“We’ve just got to make sure in these next two months we continue in that same manner.” —AFP

NOTTINGHAM: England chose to bat against an unchanged Pakistan side in the first Test match at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

England captain Andrew Strauss elected to bat despite overcast, bowler-friendly conditions.

“It looks like a good wicket to me and hopefully when the sun comes out we can make a big score and put Pakistan under some pressure,” England captain Andrew Strauss told Sky Sports.

Pakistan skipper Salman Butt said he would also have batted.

England dropped Tim Bresnan from their 12-man squad. Bresnan had been a late replacement for fellow Yorkshire seamer Ajmal Shahzad, who withdrew with an ankle injury on Wednesday.

They recalled Paul Collingwood and Stuart Broad after they were left out of the test series against Bangladesh as part of a squad rotation policy.

Pakistan named the same team that completed victory over Australia at Headingley on Saturday. They drew the series 1-1 after losing at Lord’s.

This was England batsman Kevin Pietersen’s first match for nearly a month because of a thigh injury.

Pietersen’s right foot and ankle were both strapped up after he trod on a stray football during practice here on Wednesday but the South Africa born shotmaker was passed fit.

For this series, the controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), which allows teams two unsuccessful challenges per innings, was in use in England for the first time with South Africa’s Marais Erasmus the third umpire.

This was the first Test between England and Pakistan since their meeting at The Oval in 2006 where Pakistan forfeited the match, and so handed England victory, after refusing to take the field having been being penalised for ball-tampering.

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn.

Pakistan: Salman Butt (captain), Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif.

Toughest job in cricket

Guardian’s Steven Hopps says Salman Butt had undoubtedly taken over the toughest job in cricket by becoming Pakistan’s Test captain but is impressed by the young captain’s confidence and wisdom: “He sat alone before the media at Trent Bridge today, with no coach or media officer to sustain him, a singular and intelligent man engaged upon what history suggests will be a lonely struggle.”
— Guardian

Boycs wants big innings from Pietersen and Morgan

Geoffrey Boycott, in his column for the Telegraph, demands a show of maturity from Kevin Pietersen in the Test series against Pakistan. Additionally, he says the series will also show if England’s latest ODI and Twenty20 hero Eoin Morgan is cut out for Test cricket: “People may say that Pietersen and Morgan are “impact players” who can change the game, but just because you play with flair doesn’t mean that you’re excused the most basic requirement – to make runs.”

— Telegraph

The young and the aspiring

In an interview with Cricinfo Pakistan captain Salman Butt said his team is prone to making mistakes as they play Test cricket. He also defended his young players, most of who, have barely played under 20 matches: “I have always had faith in this unit right through this tour. Yes, it will take some time to really make a name in international cricket but the quicker they can adapt, the quicker they start playing to their potential, the greater the chances of Pakistan winning more and more games.”

—Cricinfo

Aamer flying higher

There is no doubt that Mohammad Aamer has been the most talked about Pakistani player this summer and it is a trend that seems to continue for the rest of Pakistan’s tour of England. This time, cricket expert Dileep Premachandran who sings praises of this young talent: “It is only when he fronts up to the microphone, chewing gum and brushing the fashionably streaked hair from his face, that it is apparent how young he is. At a team function in Wellington on that New Zealand tour, he was asked the secret of his success. "Everyone says it's their girlfriend, but I don't have one," he said with a smile. "It's God's blessing, my parents' prayers and those of the entire nation." As long as he steers clear of the steak and kidney pies, it could be England who are left feeling queasy this summer.”

—Guardian Blogs

COLOMBO: Suresh Raina scored a century on debut and Sachin Tendulkar built on his 48th hundred as India averted the follow-on in the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.

India, replying to Sri Lanka’s mammoth 642-4 declared, carried their overnight total of 382-4 to 477 without further loss by lunch on the fourth day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Tendulkar and Raina, who came together on Wednesday afternoon with India struggling at 241-4, have so far added 236 runs for the fifth wicket on a pitch still favouring stroke-making.

Left-hander Raina went to lunch unbeaten on 112, becoming the ninth Indian to score a century in his first Test, while Tendulkar was on a masterly 152 not out.

Tendulkar, the world’s leading run-getter, equalled West Indian Brian Lara’s record of 19 scores of 150-plus. Australian legend Don Bradman did it on 18 occasions.

Raina, 23, already a veteran of 98 one-day internationals, was awarded his Test cap only after Yuvraj Singh reported sick on the opening day of the match.

He has so far hit two sixes and 11 boundaries, reaching the landmark with a fluent off-drive against seamer Dammika Prasad that raced to the fence.

Sri Lanka missed the wicket-taking abilities of the retired Muttiah Muralitharan and injured fast bowler Lasith Malinga as the young crop of bowlers failed to contain the Indians.

Debutant off-spinner Suraj Randiv and unorthodox slow bowler Ajantha Mendis, who dismissed two batsmen each on the third day, went wicketless on the fourth morning.

Randiv has so far conceded 159 runs from 49 overs, while Mendis has given away 98 runs in 28 overs.

Muralitharan and Malinga claimed 15 of the 20 Indian wickets in the first Test in Galle last week, which Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. —AFP

Pakistan go into the first of a four-Test series against England starting at Trent Bridge here on Thursday on the back of a three-wicket second Test ‘home’ win against Australia at Headingley, where Ricky Ponting’s men were dismissed for just 88 in the first innings.

England batsman Paul Collingwood has suggested Pakistan were flattered by the overcast conditions in Leeds, where opening batsman Butt was captaining his country for the first time after Shahid Afridi quit Test cricket following a 150-run first Test loss to Australia at Lord’s the week before.

However, Butt — speaking to reporters at Trent Bridge here on Wednesday — said the pace trio’s high profile was a reflection of how well they had all been performing.

“They bring a lot of confidence to us as a team because whatever totals you do, you are always confident you can defend it.”

Butt added that with 18-year-old Aamer — who took seven wickets at Headingley — being a left-arm quick, the trio had complementary abilities.

“Mohammad Aamer has most skills that a fast bowler needs. He has pace on his side, swing and the mental side of Mohammad Aamer is very good. He is mature for his age.

“Mohammad Asif is, I think, one of the best seam bowlers in the world — very accurate lines and lengths and Umar Gul, I think, with the old ball, with the reverse swing, is one of the most lethal guys in the world.

“So I think I am a lucky person to have all these three up my sleeve.”

The Pakistan-Australia series was played in England because no international cricket has taken place in Pakistan since an armed attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in March last year.

“We are very thankful for this ‘homely’ atmosphere, though this is not home, the support we got and we hope it carries on,” Butt said.

Pakistan’s batting, in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan, both omitted following the fall-out from a 3-0 series loss in Australia earlier this year, has looked fallible.

Butt though was happy to persevere with Test novices Azhar Ali and Umar Amin despite calls for at least one of the former captains to be recalled.

“They’ve played in difficult batting conditions and against one of the world’s best bowling attacks.

“Nobody comes out of home having played 40 or 50 odd games.

“So you have to give them the chance, give them the time and back them through those times to become people like Mohammad Yousuf, Younus Khan or Inzamam-ul-Haq.

“They also became stars when they performed in the middle, not before.”

Afridi’s exit was a reminder of the volatile nature of Pakistan cricket.

Pakistan’s last Test series in England, in 2006, ended with the team forfeiting The Oval finale after they refused to take the field following a decision by the umpires to penalise them for ball-tampering.

Butt though insisted the past was of no concern.

“We need to focus on the game at hand and the games to come. What we cannot control, we should not be thinking about it.”At the age of 25, Butt — the sixth man to lead Pakistan in Tests in seven years — is a relatively young captain of his country.

“In a way, it has been like that — you always give it to the senior people,” said Butt.

“But if anybody is better equipped, to lead a team — it is the right of the nation to have that person in charge, rather than a person who is old.”

Butt was pragmatic about his own captaincy prospects. “If I keep on doing well, I will stick to it. If I don’t do well, obviously nobody would like me to carry on.” -AFP

Pietersen’s right foot and ankle were both strapped up afterwards but England captain Andrew Strauss, speaking to reporters, was confident the star batsman would be fit.

England banned players from warming-up by playing football after Owais Shah injured Joe Denly while tackling his fellow batsman at The Oval last year.

“I think we’ve just got to ban footballs being on the ground because they’re still causing problems even though we’re not playing it,” said Strauss.

South Africa born Pietersen has not played any cricket for nearly a month because of a thigh injury and it is over a year since he last made a Test century.

But opening batsman Strauss said: “I’m not concerned particularly about his lack of cricket.

“He is a guy who spends a lot of time in the nets practising and for someone like him, being in the right state of mind mentally is as important as anything.

“He’s in a good state of mind, he has had a good rest, he has the bit between his teeth. I think he wants to come out and prove himself again and I think he’ll have a really good series.”

England’s selectors wanted the 30-year-old Pietersen to play for Hampshire but the county opted against picking him after he announced his intention to leave the south coast club at the end of the season.

“For counties generally it’s always an issue,” said Strauss.

“They have their squad they have built up without the England players being involved and when the England player comes up it is disruptive to those squads in one way or another.

“I implore the counties to realise the importance of a good strong England team. Even though temporarily that might be difficult for their side, in the bigger picture it’s helping both England cricket and indirectly those counties as well.

“So in that sense I was disappointed, though I can understand Hampshire’s reticence given KP’s comments about what he planned to do in the future.” -AFP

“It’s a lovely place to play cricket, there are a lot of Pakistanis living over here, so the support is good,” Butt told reporters at Trent Bridge where his team start a four-test series against England on Thursday.

“The guys love their cricket in England.”

Since a terror attack in Lahore in March last year when Sri Lanka’s team bus and that of the match officials were attacked by gunmen, Pakistan have had to play matches at neutral venues.

They have used Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as alternative home venues in one-day internationals.

Pakistan also played a ‘home’ test series against Australia in England this month in which their pace bowlers took advantage of overcast conditions to help them secure a 1-1 series draw.

“The unfortunate part is there are only six months of the season here so we might have to go to other places as well,” added Butt.

“Of course, the number one priority would be to play in Pakistan. But with the unfortunate situation which is currently going on, I think England is the best option.”

MORE ACCLIMATISED

Mohammad Aamer, Mohamamd Asif and Umar Gul claimed a collective 30 wickets in the two tests with Australia, who were bowled out for a 26-year low test total of 88 at Headingley.

Their batsmen, though, may be less keen to play in England frequently against the swinging ball.

England skipper Andrew Strauss accepted Pakistan were more acclimatised to English conditions than they would normally be, having had that series with Australia, but he urged his players to take control in conditions they are familiar with.

“The most important thing for us is that these are our own conditions, we’re very comfortable here and we know what type of cricket we need to play in most conditions over here,” he said.

“We need to use our advantage over the course of this summer. Like any tour you go away on, the opposition have an in-built advantage. It’s important to use that advantage.”

Tim Bresnan was earlier drafted into England’s 12-man squad for ankle injury victim Ajmal Shahzad. The likelihood is, though, that Steven Finn, James Anderson and Stuart Broad will form the bowling attack along with off-spinner Graeme Swann.

Pakistan, after playing in front of mostly empty seats against Australia, will be met by much bigger crowds at Trent Bridge as 10,500 seats have been sold in advance for day one with the second and third days sold out. -Reuters

NOTTINGHAM: Paul Collingwood is adamant there is no reason why he or his fellow England batsmen should feel daunted by the challenge of facing Pakistan’s bowlers here at Trent Bridge.

Pakistan go into the first of four-Test series starting Thursday on the back of a dramatic three-wicket second Test win over Australia at Headingley where they dismissed Ricky Ponting’s men for just 88 in the first innings last week.

Teenage left-arm quick Mohammad Aamer has been compared to Pakistan hero Wasim Akram while Mohammad Asif was likened to Australia great Glenn McGrath by Pakistan captain Salman Butt.

Umar Gul is a fine third seamer while leg-spinner Danish Kaneria completes an admirably balanced attack.

However, Collingwood - returning to Tests after missing England’s early season 2-0 home series win over Bangladesh with a shoulder injury - suggested Pakistan were flattered by overcast conditions at Headingley.

“I don’t want to go overboard on ‘these guys are the best thing since sliced bread’ - or Wasim Akram, or this, that and the other,” Collingwood told reporters on Tuesday.

Nevertheless he praised the 18-year-old Aamer, saying: “When I was 18 I was just getting a contract for Durham and playing club cricket out in Australia - so it was bare bones at the time.

“Seeing a youngster like that (Aamer) is excellent for the game.”

But Collingwood added: “If we can get through those periods where it can be really tricky, I think we can get on top of them.

“To say they’re the number one bowling attack in the world I would say was over the mark.

“They have come up in conditions recently where it’s done a fair bit.

“Their confidence is going to be sky-high. But we’re a confident team ourselves.”

England will take heart from the way an inexperienced Pakistan batting line-up lost seven wickets in pursuit of a relatively modest victory target of 180 at Headingley.

So England’s bowlers will fancy their chances at Trent Bridge, where paceman Stuart Broad and off-spinner Graeme Swann play for Nottinghamshire.

Pakistan, in what will be only opening batsman Butt’s second match as captain, are likely to go in with the same side as played at Headingley.

Meanwhile England, who have a 12-man squad, are set to stick with a policy of six specialist batsmen and four bowlers that has become standard under the regime of coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss.

Wile this might work against Pakistan, it could leave them a bowler light in Australia where they begin the defence of the Ashes in November and where no England side has won a Test series since 1986.

“We have done very well with the three seamers, and Swanny’s pivotal role in giving the seamers rest - with the wickets he gets and the pressure he puts on,” Collingwood said.

“Sometimes I tend to think that when you do have four seamers one of them never bowls too much anyway.

As batsman Ian Bell is out with a series-ending foot injury, the top six appears to pick itself.

And so will, it seems, England’s attack after Yorkshire seamer Ajmal Shahzad was ruled out Wednesday with an ankle injury.

Shahzad’s county colleague Tim Bresnan was called into the squad as a replacement but it would now be a major surprise if England fielded an attack of anything other than James Anderson, Steven Finn, Broad and Swann.

As for Pakistan, Butt said: “We know it will not be an easy ride so we have to stick together and try our best. That’s all we can do.” —Agencies