Udal Goes From Second Fiddle To Concertmaster

In my view it was Udal's disciplined bowling that allowed England to wrestle the initiative from Pakistan on the first day of the first Test. Trescothick had tried all four other bowlers and the all-rounder Collingwood before throwing the ball to Shaun Udal, the 36 year-old debutant. With the exception of Harmison, all bowlers were going for more than 3 an over, Pakistan had reached 140-odd for one and Salman Butt smashed Udal's first ball in Test cricket for four. The challenge appeared daunting. But Udal met that challenge.

Udal gave nothing away, showing that patience is a virtue for both bowlers and batsmen in Pakistan. In his seventh over he took his first Test wicket when Salman Butt edged the ball through Trescothick's hands and onto his forehead, and with the England skipper staggering around like a zombie, Jones capped an assured display behind the stumps with a sharp catch off the rebound.

From then on it was England's day, as Pakistan promptly lost their third wicket to a superb Flintoff yorker. Trescothick astutely brought on Harmison just before Tea, allowing his premier fast bowler to fully exert himself before and after the break. The tactic paid dividends, as Harmison put England in control with two wickets in the first over after Tea. Hoggard demonstrated that the pitch gives encouragement to the new ball bowlers by having the lively Kamran Akmal caught at slip, just before the close of play. Pakistan will start the second day on 244-6 and England will now hope to use the new ball to prevent them reaching 300. Standing in their way is the wily Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-haq. With his help Pakistan's tail is more than capable of tilting the game back in their favour.

It was an impressive first day performance by England, but the luck was with them. Even Brian Close would admit that heading the ball into the wicket-keepers gloves is an unreliable method for taking wickets and the two LBW decisions were dubious. Shoaib Malik will no doubt feel that Flintoff's delivery was going over the top and although it could be argued that Younis Khan hit the ball after it hit his pad, most umpires give the benefit of the doubt to the batsmen in those circumstances.