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Delhi 278 for 5 (Manhas 74, Chopra 73, Bhatia 66*) lead Maharashtra 219 by 59 runs
Scorecard

When Delhi batted on the second day on a tricky Nagothane track, the difference between the two sides came down to one factor: experience. While the Maharashtra batsmen played too many shots, the Delhi batsmen applied themselves, saw out the tough periods, strung together partnerships and by stumps had put their side 59 ahead of Maharashtra’s total of 219 with five wickets to spare. The main contributors were Mithun Manhas, Aakash Chopra and Rajat Bhatia, each of whom scored a half-century.Manhas, who came in to join Chopra after Chetanya Nanda, the nightwatchman, and Virender Sehwag fell in quick succession, looked the most comfortable batsman. From the outset, he batted with ease off both front and back foot, choosing to wait for the ball to come to him rather than commit to playing strokes. He opened his account with a flick off the pads through midwicket, which was a feature of his innings. He hit seven boundaries in his 74 and strung together two important partnerships – 75 for the fourth wicket with Chopra and 91 for the fifth with Bhatia – before his dismissal against the run of play and when he looked good for his second century of the season.If Manhas made batting look easy, Chopra weathered the tough period, just before stumps yesterday and in the first hour today. He survived a couple of confident lbw appeals, when the fielders contended that the bat was hidden behind the pad. One edge fell short of slip and there was a big caught-behind shout too. On a pitch with variable bounce, he took a blow from one that kicked disconcertingly from a good length.While all that happened, he didn’t let the scoring slow down, rotating the strike consistently and hitting eight boundaries. He was comfortable against the spinners, playing the first pull shot of the match when he hit Sairaj Bahutule to the midwicket boundary in the 24th over. He stepped out to hit Agharkar for two fours down the ground and crossed 50 for the fourth time in this Ranji Trophy, one of which he has converted into a double-century and another into a century. The knock, which comes ahead of the selection for the Australia tour and with Bhupinder Singh, a national selector, watching, ended when he was on 73. He was given lbw off a Bahutule delivery that came in and was visibly unhappy with the decision, standing motionless at the wicket for about eight seconds before shaking his head and walked off.After Chopra got out, Bhatia, a five-for in his bag already, joined Manhas and the two carried Delhi through to the first-innings lead with ease. Bhatia batted with the same sense he had shown with the ball and played only when the bowlers made him play. When he went for the big hits, they cleared the boundary and he hit the only sixes of the match so far. He ended the day unbeaten on 66 off 190 deliveries.Sehwag, meanwhile, once again played an innings where he promised a lot and delivered little. In one over from left-armer Fallah, he walked down the wicket to take two boundaries – one flicked to fine leg and one driven straight down. But in the same over he went for another big drive, and beaten by the angle from round the stumps, played it on to the leg stump.The young Maharashtra bowlers bowled with heart, creating chances, and beat the bat on several occasions. However, like the Delhi seamers, Samad Fallah and Wahid Sayyed lacked the discipline, Fallah bowling eight no-balls and the two bowling two wides each. The young side’s inexperience showed as they appealed almost every time the ball hit the pad or beat the bat. The fielders stayed chirpy till the end of the day and kept cheering even wide balls, which were left alone. The new ball, taken in the 84th over, did not do any tricks for Maharashtra either, as Mayank Tehlan and Bhatia negotiated the period before stumps easily.

The third Twenty20 Cup gets underway today in Karachi and in the true tradition of modern events, promises to be bigger, better, richer and more glamorous than ever before. If it can match the success of the previous two editions though, it will be a success enough.Sialkot Stallions will be defending the title, having beaten the Faisalabad Wolves, winners of the inaugural title, last year in Karachi. And from the 13 teams competing, the Stallions will be among the favourites again to retain the title. Their line-up is, on paper, the strongest of any, including captain Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik and left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman. It also boasts the two bowlers who made the difference last year, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Asif.The competition might be tougher this year as most teams are able to call on national team players following a directive from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The only absentee is likely to be Inzamam-ul-Haq, who would’ve captained the Multan Tigers but hasn’t yet fully recovered from a finger injury he sustained during the recent ODI series against West Indies. Mohammad Yousuf will be available to lead the Lahore Lions for preliminary games before he sets off to Saudi Arabia to perform the Muslim pilgrimage of .Nevertheless, a star-studded six-day event awaits, held across three venues in the city and culminating in the final on December 26, at the National Stadium. Shahid Afridi, a Twenty20 player long before the format was conceived, will captain the Karachi Dolphins, no doubt hoping to send a reminder out to national selectors of his ODI value before an important international season. Other big name leaders include Younis Khan, who will be leading the Peshawar Panthers and Shoaib Akhtar who will continue his comeback as captain of the Islamabad Leopards.Entry to the matches, as always is free, though the PCB are keen to avoid a repeat of the chaos that engulfed finals day last year. Then, the final itself was held up for nearly two hours due to crowd trouble in Karachi and the traditional music concert – a Twenty20 staple the world over – had to be cancelled. But a PCB spokesman has confirmed that there will be tighter security this year to avoid the “mishaps from last year.”As well as greater security, there will also be greater rewards. The winners are expected to receive Rs 1 million as prize money this year, almost double the amount from last year. The remaining cash awards, for individual as well as team honours, have received similar boosts. Like last year, the matches are also being telecast live, although this time on a local sports channel.Group A – Faisalabad Wolves, Karachi Dolphins, Lahore Eagles, Abbotabad Rhinos
Group B – Sialkot Stallions, Hyderabad Hawks, Karachi Zebras
Group C – Multan Tigers, Peshawar Panthers, Islamabad Leopards
Group D – Lahore Lions, Rawalpindi Rams, Quetta Bears

The ICC has launched a spirited defence of its handling of the Zimbabwe crisis in the light of recent criticism.In a joint statement made exclusively to Cricinfo, Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, and Malcolm Speed, the chief executive, said that it was understandable that there was disquiet over issues in Zimbabwe, adding: “These are concerns that are shared by the ICC.”They continued: “Strong opinions from many stakeholders have been expressed in opposition to the stance the ICC has taken on Zimbabwe. No doubt the ICC could become more popular with many more people if it adopted a more strident position against Zimbabwe but such a role would do little to find a solution to this complex issue.”The simplistic view expressed by some is that it is time for the ICC to roll up its sleeves, flex its muscles and get in and ‘fix it’ – although how this is to be achieved is left, not surprisingly, vague. In reality, if Zimbabwe is to reunite its fractured cricket community, the only lasting solution will come from within the Zimbabwe cricket community.”Speed and Mani went on to say that the ICC had repeatedly offered Zimbabwe’s stakeholders assistance but that its powers were limited. “The idea that the ICC can simply walk in and ‘take over’ one of our members is quite simply a nonsense.”In recent times, there have been threats of a players’ strike in Australia; complicated television issues that have cost the game millions of dollars and disputed Board elections in India; a players’ strike in New Zealand and the sacking and replacement of Boards by governments in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but no-one has seriously suggested that the ICC should unilaterally intervene to “fix it” in these cases and rightly so.”The ICC is well aware of the arguments against its stance and respects the rights of its stakeholders to take and express other opinions on the best way to resolve these difficult issues affecting Zimbabwe cricket.”What is more difficult to respect are the attempts by some people to link issues that are not joined, to use rhetoric ahead of reason, and to advance extreme positions at the expense of striking a balanced view. This may play well to their audience, attract media attention and perhaps give some people the public profile they crave but populism doesn’t equal progress.”The truth is that what is happening is Zimbabwe is of great concern to the ICC but those who are arguing for the unilateral intervention of the ICC without the support of all the stakeholders in the game are failing to properly understand the process that is needed to make progress or the challenges that cricket faces in Zimbabwe.”The statement concluded by saying that the ICC was monitoring developments inside Zimbabwe and “has made its concerns clear to the sport’s stakeholders in Zimbabwe as well as the risks that are being run if they fail to find a solution.”No doubt the ICC’s policy on this issue will continue to attract much criticism, but it is a policy which in the ICC’s judgment provides the greatest opportunity for cricket in Zimbabwe to survive the crisis it currently faces.”Click here to send us your feedback on this statement

Australia 585 (Clarke 141, Gilchrist 126, Martyn 70, McGrath 61, Gillespie 54*, Ponting 51, Martin 5-152) beat New Zealand 353 (Oram 126*, Sinclair 69) and 76 by an innings and 156 runs
Scorecard
Day 4
Bulletin – New Zealand have no answer to McGrath
Verdict – An overwhelming gap
Roving Reporter – The Gabba faithful
Quotes “It’s a huge turnaround for us” – Ponting
Quotes Fleming asks for more out of top order
Big Picture – Oram’s freak dismissal

Day 3
Bulletin – Clarke and Gilchrist flay New Zealand
Verdict – Back to the familiar opening theme
Michael Clarke: a hero … in the flesh
Big Picture – Clarke’s celebration
Quotes “It’s great to play in front of a big crowd”
Quotes “It’s quite funny when the tail is batting”Day 2
Bulletin – Honours even after Oram hundred
Verdict – Kiwis ruffle Aussie feathers
Oram carves it like Cairns
Quotes – Warne speaks out
Big Picture – Warne’s wides
Day 1
Bulletin – Kasprowicz gives Australia the edge
Roving Reporter – Fashions of the Field
Verdict – A matter of confidence
Quotes – Kasprowicz and SinclairPreview package
Preview – Brothers in Arms
Quotes – Weird and wonderful series theories
News – New Zealand lose Franklin

All Today’s Yesterdays – July 29 down the yearsJuly 28| July 302001
Hamilton Masakadza becomes the first black African to score a Test century – and, for all of 41 days, the youngest debutant centurion in Test history. Aged just 17 years and 352 days at the start of the match, Masakadza’s inclusion in the Zimbabwe team for the second Test against West Indies had been the subject of some controversy – many observers felt that, with just a year’s first-class cricket under his belt, he was a political rather than a sporting selection. But, with Zimbabwefacing a first-innings deficit of 216, he silenced his doubters in emphatic fashion, batting for 388 minutes and 316 balls for his 119, with 12 fours. Zimbabwe declared on 563 for 6, and had rain not washed out the final day,they might even have squared the series. Masakadza was the seventh black African to play for Zimbabwe, but only the second out-and-out batsman, after Trevor Madondo, who had tragically died of malaria a month earlier. And, until Mohammad Ashraful made his bow for Bangladesh later in the year, only Mushtaq Mohammad and Sachin Tendulkar had reached three figures in a Test at a younger age.1996
One of the great England collapses. They had to bat out a day and a bit to draw the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s. At lunch on the final day they were one down and Ladbrokes had closed the book, with Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart looking untroubled. But then Atherton fell, and down England went like a bunch of drunks on a bouncy castle. They lost seven for 18 in a fearful collapse, with Mushtaq Ahmed at his most mischievous and Waqar Younis feasting on the scraps. Graeme Hick was Waqar-ed twice in the match for 4 – and he was also given not-out wrongly off a bat-pad catch off Mushtaq in the second innings. Only a couple of months after a Wisden Cricket Monthly cover had proclaimed that Hick was “nearly there”, he would be dropped for the Test team for the next two years. His Test career was never the same again.1980
As he lambasts batsmen from the Sky Sports commentary box, it’s sometimes easy to forget that Bob Willis had a Test batting average of 11, but he did once save a Test with the willow. When Willis marched to the crease against West Indies at The Oval, England were 92 for 9 in their second innings, just after lunch on the final day. But somehow, Willis survived for almost three hours. He made 24 not out, Peter Willey his first Test hundred, and Englandsaved a match that looked lost.1986
England opener Dennis Amiss scored his 100th first-class hundred, for Warwickshire against Lancashire at Edgbaston.1963
Born with two fingers missing on his right hand, Azeem Hafeez went on to bowl left-arm pace for Pakistan. He took 63 wickets in 18 Tests, the last in 1984-85 when he was still only 21.1972
Some of us have never seen it happen, but on this day England retained the Ashes. They did so with a nine-wicket win at Headingley , as Derek Underwood exploited a grassless, flooded, and much-criticised pitch to take 10 for 82 in the match. England’s top-scorers were the unlikely pair of Ray Illingworth (57) and John Snow (48), who effectively decided things with an eighth-wicket partnership of 104.1944
New Zealand opening batsman Terry Jarvis was born.His highest Test score of 182 was made in a mammoth opening partnership of 387 with Glenn Turner at Georgetown in 1971-72. New Zealand drew the series despite losing the toss every time.1934
To a Test cricketer, a son is born. Alfred Scottfollowed his father OC `Tommy’ Scott into the West Indies team, but took 0 for 140 in his only Test.Other birthdays
1933 Cammie Smith (West Indies)
1970 John Rennie (Zimbabwe)
1975 Lanka de Silva (Sri Lanka)

Prior to tea a military helicopter circled the Sinhalese Sports Club beforea seven-man team of elite commandos sky-dived into the stadium during theinterval. For a moment we wondered whether their mission was to rescue the WestIndies who were slipping towards their third consecutive defeat.It turns out that they were delivering the shining brass JanashakthiNational Test series trophy and, at the time, it seemed a wise decision to notwait until the final day for the air drop, as the West Indies looked set to fold up completely having lost both openers cheaply, having earlier conceded a significant first innings deficit.But West Indies did rally after the departure of Wing Commander Hashim andhis sky-diving squadron, as Ramnaresh Sarwan (57) and Brian Lara (76) – ofcourse – scored half-centuries and added 125 runs for the third wicket togive the tourists some hope of saving the game. At the close they were 145for two, needing 92 runs to make Sri Lanka bat again.It comes as no surprise that it is Sarwan and Lara who are once againresisting Sri Lanka. The former has battled hard all series scoring threehalf-centuries and deserves a maiden hundred tomorrow. The latter has beensimply brilliant and has now scored 634 runs in the series, which is thesecond highest aggregate in a three-Test series after Graham Gooch’s Indiansummer in 1990/1 (752 runs).The pair reacted positively to the early loss of Chris Gayle and DarenGanga, who were both dismissed by Chaminda Vaas in a somewhat predictable manner.Gayle, who has had a disastrous series after a promising tour to Zimbabwe,recorded his third consecutive duck as he was edged an outswinger to MahelaJayawardene at third slip first ball. It was the fifth time in six inningsthat he had been dismissed by Vaas, who has exploited the left-handers stifffootwork and uncertainty outside his off-stump. Ganga was trapped lbw has hewalked straight into an inswinger.West Indies were 20 for two and Sarwan responded with a flurry ofboundaries. Nuwan Zoysa was pulled for three fours and Muttiah Muralitharan,introduced in the eighth over, was slog-swept second ball. They brought upthe fifty in just 62 balls before consolidating in the second part of theevening.Sarwan played well but struggled against Muralitharan. He was dropped atslip on 45 after edging his straighter delivery and came with a whisker ofbeing caught by a leaping Upul Chandana at mid-wicket. The 21-year-oldGuyanan was helped by Lara, who unselfishly, if somewhat bizarrely, shieldedthe number three from the off-spinner by farming the strike. ButMuralitharan is no breeze, even for Lara, who is reading him from the hand.He had moments of doubt and Sri Lanka’s raucous close-fielders are convincedthat he was caught behind when on 45. West Indies fate now seems to rest onthe pair carrying on well into the final dayEarlier in the day Sri Lanka had extended their 87-run overnight lead to 237thanks to a career best 204 from Hashan Tillakaratne and 87 from ThilanSamaraweera, plus a couple of late-order cameos. The pair added 165 for thesixth wicket, surpassing their record 154-run stand in Galle, allowing SriLanka to amass 627 for nine; the second highest innings total in their 19year Test history and the first time that West Indies had conceded sixhundred runs for 23 years.Tillakaratne, 143 not out overnight, was more subdued today until the lastdash for his double century as he ran out of partners, but he was equallyefficient, rarely hitting the ball in the air and did not offer a singlechance in an innings that spanned nine hours. His greatest obstacle was ahamstring injury that he had pulled the previous afternoon. However, aidedwith painkillers and with his left leg heavily strapped, he batted on without a runner.West Indies bowlers hadn’t looked like taking a wicket all morning, evenwhen they took the new ball, so it was no surprise when the eventual breakthrough was self-inflicted. Tillakaratne drove to Chris Gayle at mid-off and set off for a single, but then hesitated and the ensuingconfusion left Samaraweera inches short of his crease after a direct hit(510 for six).Tillakaratne then added 40 with Vaas before the left-hander was caught atmid-on and 42 with Niroshan Bandaratillake before the ninth wicket fell withTillakaratne on 193. The sight of a beaming Muralitharan, swinging his batlike an over eager Lathi-waving Indian policeman, would not have been reassuring and he quite rightly made a final and successful sprint for the milestone.

The case of Andrew Fitch-Holland, the co-accused in the Chris Cairns perjury trial, has been reduced to the status of a “sideshow”, according to his lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw, QC.Fitch-Holland denies perverting the course of justice, a charge he faces jointly with Cairns, after the pair allegedly attempted to secure a false witness statement from Lou Vincent, the disgraced former New Zealand batsman, in support of Cairns’ successful libel action against Lalit Modi in 2012.In the course of the six-week trial, Fitch-Holland has been characterised by the prosecution as a “star-struck” individual who had fallen so far under Cairns’ influence that he was willing to risk his career and reputation as a lawyer.However, Laidlaw argued that the prosecution had become so focused on securing a verdict against Cairns that they had allowed themselves to be taken in by the testimony of Vincent, a “deeply flawed individual” who “wouldn’t recognise the truth if it struck him square in the forehead.””The prosecution has become rather too Cairns-focused in this case,” said Laidlaw. “Have they overlooked that there is a second man on trial here?”The key evidence in the case against Fitch-Holland and Cairns, who also denies a second count of perjury, lies in a recorded Skype conversation between Fitch-Holland and Vincent, in which the defendant says: “Between you and I, we all know some of what is being said is clearly true”.Vincent, who was plainly uncomfortable in the course of the conversation, at one stage responds: “It’s a big ask from me to… in a legal document say something that isn’t true.”Well that’s right,” Fitch-Holland replies.Laidlaw dismissed the evidence as “the cursory, and unfair selection of six lines or so” and described the predicament of his client as being “the thing of nightmares for a practicing barrister”.”It can’t get much worse that to be accused of interfering with a system of justice you plainly respect,” Laidlaw said.Vincent, by contrast, had – in the QC’s estimation – “lied and lied and has literally escaped scot free”, having avoided either a jail sentence or a fine despite confirming last year that he had taken money to influence matches.”The word of a man who has committed umpteen criminal offences all over the world for which he has escaped with what? A ban, a life ban in cricket imposed at a time when he’d finished playing the game”, Laidlaw said. “If it weren’t so serious it would be laughable.”Throughout his testimony, Fitch-Holland maintained his belief that Cairns was innocent of match-fixing. Therefore, his lawyer added, if the jury believe that Cairns is not guilty then, by extension, the same ruling must apply to Fitch-Holland, because he cannot have contrived to cover up a crime that did not exist.The judge is expected to begin his summing-up of the case on Friday, with the jury likely to retire on Monday to consider its verdict.

Premier Limited Over Tournament

High-riding Bloomfield, without their prolific scorer Tillakaratne Dilshan who was leading a Sri Lanka President’s XI against England, suffered their first defeat of the season when Colombo CC won by one wicket during an exciting encounter at the Bloomfield ground. Allrounder Laknath Perera was Bloomfield’s adversary taking four wickets with his gentle medium-pace and then showing a cool head to score an undefeated 25 off 29 balls to enable CCC to pass the target of 198 in the 48th over. Despite the defeat Bloomfield continue to head the points table hotly pursued by Colombo Colts.Colombo Colts kept pace with NCC by defeating Ragama CC by nine wickets at the Colombo Cricket Club. Angelo Mathews, the former Sri Lanka Under-19 captain, knocked out the top and bottom of the order with four wickets. Colts made short work of the modest target, cruising home in the 23rd over mainly through an opening stand of 100 by Shantha Kalavitigoda and Dilruwan Perera, who made his ODI debut against England last month.Player of the week – Riki Wessels
Although there were a number of closely fought matches, the overall standard of batting has been disappointing with many young players failing to play straight. But one player who has stood out is Riki Wessels, the 22-year-old son of former Australian and South Africa cricketer Kepler Wessels.An Australian by birth Wessels, who plays for English county Northamptonshire and has set his sights of representing England in the future, signed up for one season with Nondescripts CC. According to the club’s vice president Ranjith Fernando he has making a good impression. “Riki’s fitted into the system very well. The way he is batting he’s certainly shown that he is enjoying himself.”Having started the season with an impressive knock of 83 against Tamil Union, Wessels has shown consistency as an opener averaging 53 from five matches. Last weekend he hit back-to-back half-centuries – 61 and 53 against Bloomfield and Chilaw Marians. However, despite Wessels’ contributions NCC are struggling to keep pace with the rest of the clubs. They are lying sixth and need to lift their game in the remaining four matches to have any chance of qualifying for the knock-out stage.

Liam Plunkett, the England seamer who is touring with the Ashes squad, will be questioned by police on his return in connection with a drink-driving offence.Plunkett, 21, was breathalysed after allegedly crashing his 4×4 into another car outside the Tall Trees nightclub in Yarm, Teesside.Student Russell Cowan, 19, and his girlfriend suffered minor whiplash and their car was written off. A friend of Cowan’s told The Sun newspaper: “The driver of the 4×4 got out and asked if they were all right. He wasn’t hurt but was very apologetic — he was also shocked and upset.Everyone involved was very lucky not to have been badly hurt. The police arrived and must have told him the test had shown he had been drinking, as he started to cry. It wasn’t very nice to see him like that.”Police then took Plunkett away for further tests, but the results were not available before he flew to Australia, and as a result will not be known until he returns in seven weeks time.A police spokesman refused to comment on the incident.

For Pakistan, this time last year things could only get better. They were about to go to Australia where they were widely expected to be – and eventually were – brusquely walloped. But redemption dangled teasingly – and was tentatively snatched – thereafter, through a series against a stuttering India and the only other side in cricket with as spectacular an aptitude for implosion, fraction and in-fighting, the West Indies.Additionally, the home series against England, at the time, presented Pakistan with a legitimate opportunity to claim a rare home series win against worthy opponents. The claim acquired credibility due, in main, to the expected mauling England were to receive in the Ashes; after which, the theory was, they would crumble to a rejuvenated Pakistan.It says, then, as much about cricket as it does about its commentators that Pakistan now faces for the second time in a year the best team in the world. The only difference, of course, is although it was unarguable last year, there is some room for contention to that claim this time round.Not that it makes much difference to Inzamam-ul-Haq. At the pre-match press conference in his hometown, Inzamam was, as he is always, inscrutable and miserly with his thoughts. How big a challenge does England present? “It’s a very big challenge for us considering how well England have played in the last two years and how young our team is.”What of key players such as Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, men who, you imagine, induce significant queasiness in opposition? Both players were described as “exciting” and “had performed very well recently.” Ashley Giles, whose contribution five years ago became as vital as it went sly and unnoticed, was acknowledged as a very good bowler but, Inzamam added nonchalantly “if you are playing international cricket, you have to face good bowlers everywhere.” Michael Vaughan’s absence, which most people would reasonably claim to be potentially pivotal, was greeted without expression or feeling. “We have a little advantage because Vaughan is a very good batsman and captain. But we feel that the England team as a whole is very strong.”

Inzamam’s indifference to the opposition is, in a sense, not only admirable but sagacious. As ever, there is enough within his squad to suggest that as long as players perform as they can, a proper challenge can be posed. After first furnishing a query about key Pakistani players, predictably, by labeling them all equally important, he agreed that Danish Kaneria’s contribution might be more equal than others (intuitively, Woolmer pointed to Inzamam when the query about key players was put to the captain).”I think Danish will play a key role in the series. He has done really well for us over the last two years and I expect him to play a major part in this series.” In truth, he has done more than that, as 61 wickets in ten Tests against opposition good, great and clueless and, in eight instances, on foreign pitches, testifies. Certainly, from the last time England faced him, he will be unrecognisable, both in his bowling and importantly, his attitude, which has since purchased enviable poise and belief.Given the nature of the pitch – it looks as dry and grassless as it did when Virender Sehwag unveiled arguably the most raucously modern triple century – and Kaneria’s evolved role as shock and stock bowler, few would argue Inzamam’s assertion.But if spin has traditionally formed such an evocative and incendiary strand in the history between the two countries, then pace, particularly in the last decade has never been far behind. Here too there is good news for Pakistan as, for the first time since the departures of Wasim and Waqar, Pakistan have a full complement of first-choice fast bowlers to choose from.

Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, said: “I hope it will be a big factor for us. Whatever combination we go in with we’re looking for the bowlers to work as a team and having all four fast bowlers fit, firing and at full throttle augurs well for Pakistan cricket.”Barring drama, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami are certain to open the bowling – only the fourth time they have done so together in over two years – and one of Shabbir Ahmed or Rana Naved-ul-Hasan will play. Given the former’s impressive Test credentials – and murky action – and the latter’s undoubted commitment – and poor Test record – neither choice will be easy or fair.It is at the other end of the line-up, however, where problems arise. As if nine opening combinations in their last ten Tests weren’t enough, they are likely to take on England’s pace attack with their tenth – Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt. Although Woolmer wouldn’t reveal the identity of the pair, he said, “What we’d like to do is to try out our two best young players up front and give them an opportunity to do well. I have every faith and confidence in them.” With 15 Tests between them – and Malik has only played one of them as an opener – that faith will be sternly tested.Undoubtedly, Pakistan have changed under Woolmer; many might argue they have progressed. Woolmer said, “I think the team has improved tremendously but our Test cricket still needs to improve. In the next three months we play six Tests and that will be good for us.” But they are yet to win a Test series and are still, as Woolmer acknowledges, slow starters.As a flimsy omen, the last time England won the Ashes and faced Pakistan, they were beaten home and away within six months. Pakistan travel to England next summer for a return series, and given England’s poor early tour form, expectations will be higher than they were in the immediate aftermath of the Ashes. But in a contest genuinely difficult to gauge, the last word should belong to Inzamam the phlegmatic: “Despite their poor start, both sides start on an even footing before the first Test.”