Instead, to cricket’s great detriment, it is the spot-fixing crisis perpetrated by Amir, his fellow seamer Mohammad Asif and then Pakistan captain Salman Butt which still reverberates.
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“Hopefully this is a time I can go in and stamp my authority on a place and get some runs”.
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.
Left-arm fast bowler Amir returned to worldwide cricket earlier this year and the 24-year-old could now make his Test comeback at Lord’s. We are here to play good, competitive cricket against an England side who are very good in their home conditions.
“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. We will make sure that we get both Cook and Root out so that we can put the pressure on the middle order”.
Ballance was a surprise call-up for England’s squad for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s after striking a defiant century – his first of the season – in Yorkshire’s defeat against the new Championship leaders Middlesex at Scarborough.
“Let’s start looking at him as a cricketer and a bowler, and how we can negate that”. Their last Test series win in this country came 20 years ago, in 1996, but they arrive this time as the higher ranked side, on the back of a thorough programme of preparation and acclimatisation, and having won their five of their last six Test matches against England. Watch all the latest videos from the England Cricket Team and England and Wales Cricket Board.
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”.
And Pietersen has warned his former England team-mates not to get distracted by the circumstances of his return because he is capable of punishing them with the ball.
“We will support him and we really want him to do well”. “They got wickets with lbws and bowleds so it will be about adjusting as quickly as possible”.
However, committee chairman Mike Brearley said Amir deserved an opportunity to make a return to Test cricket.
“It was obviously a hard one to know how to react to – inside you’re jumping around but you end up playing it down”.
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In fact, of the 15 pacemen to have made their debut in the last 10 years, only three – Boyd Rankin, Darren Pattinson and Jon Lewis – have been older when winning their first cap than Roland-Jones will be next week.
