Reflection On Day 1 Of Pakistan A V England

England collapsed to 126 all out on the first day of their last warm-up match before the first Test. Their scores so far on this tour have been 256-9, 112 & 126, with Trescothick the only key batsman to show any form. However, by reducing Pakistan A to 127-8 England have guaranteed themselves a second and final chance for batting practice before the real matches begin.

It has been implied that England have been deprived adequate batting practice as their two warm-up games have deliberately been held on seamer friendly pitches, while the Test matches will be played on pitches that turn. The powers-that-be successfully eradicated accusations of bias in umpiring by ensuring that both umpires are from a neutral country. They could similarly eradicate accusations of groundsmen tailoring pitches for the home team by insisting on neutral groundsmen.

If this pitch is a seamers' paradise then the failure of either Flintoff or Harmison to take a wicket should be a cause for concern. By the same token the success of both Giles and Udal, on supposedly unfavourable pitches in this and the other tour match, give reason for optimism.

My main concern remains that the selectors only have six batsmen competing for the five batting positions. This problem has been exacerbated by the dropping of Bell. I would have been tempted to pick Bell for this game, but drop him for the first Test, unless of course he made a significant innings. The Test matches will be played back-to-back with no practice games in between, so it will be doubly difficult for Bell to regain his place as he will lack match practice. This means that there is no healthy competition for the five batting places and without an England A tour the selectors are committed to Trescothick, Strauss, Vaughn, Pietersen and Collingwood (3 Tests ,106 runs @ 17.66). Not for the first time I wish Robert Key was in the squad.