Veteran England pacer Stuart Broad said his team needs to forget about Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir’s past and concentrate on his cricketing abilities as he is capable of doing some real damage during their upcoming Test series.
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At least he is expected to visit Lord’s today or tomorrow and can pass on tips to uncapped duo Jake Ball, 25, of Nottinghamshire and Middlesex’s Toby Roland-Jones, 28.
Pakistan briefly rose to No. 2 in the ICC Test rankings – they are now third, a place above England – after beating England 2-0 in the UAE previous year and Wahab pointed to Misbah-ul-Haq, who stepped up to replace Salman Butt as captain after the 2010 spot-fixing crisis and oversee the rebuilding of the team, as the main reason for their recent success.
Are Pakistan ready to face England at Lord’s?
Not since 2005, when Warne played his last Ashes series here, have we been able to see a world-class legspinner in England – let alone on terrestrial.
“I would expect Pakistan to pitch the ball up and take it away from him, posting three slips and a gully, while keeping open point, mid-off and extra cover to encourage the drive”.
“You are stepping into the unknown – but that can give you a bit extra”.
“Every human being has made a mistake”, he said.
“When the opportunity arrives you want to be in peak physical condition”.
“I want him to take five wickets in this Test match to get his name back and to get his image back which has been spoilt”.
Kevin Pietersen believes anyone caught fixing or taking banned drugs should be banned for life.
“I don’t think wickets should seam around – I just think they have got to bounce”.
“We know that England is struggling with their middle order”.
There are also question-marks over the fitness of Stokes, although Cook insists he will return to the fold as soon as he is deemed fit enough to do so. Cricket is a gentleman’s game, so play like a gentleman.
Broad added: “I think what will help the team move on is that there is only me, Cooky and Finny who played in that Test…it is a very new team”.
“Like always selection is opinionated and everyone has a different opinion, you could have gone that way, the selectors have decided not to”.
Former England cricket skipper Nasser Hussain said he would have picked in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler over Gary Ballance for England’s first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s starting on Thursday.
“Obviously it’s a great feeling to be back in the squad – especially when you’ve been out of the side for a while”.
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Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis have enhanced their reputation with the bat, and alongside Angelo Mathews should form a solid middle-order for the next few years, but all three of them failed to capitalise on good starts.
