His experiences of the past year, however, suggest he will be up to the task against Pakistan in this week’s first Investec Test at Lord’s.
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The 24-year-old, who served a prison sentence in the United Kingdom and a five-year suspension for his role in the infamous case, will aim to erase his sordid past when he will resume his Test career at Lord’s- the scene of the fixing scandal- on Thursday.
Steven Finn, however, has not convinced in recent times – and whether he is joined by his Middlesex team-mate Toby Roland-Jones, for a debut on his home ground, or Jake Ball, each faces a stern challenge to step up immediately.
Stuart Broad has warned that England’s rejigged seam attack will have to adapt quickly to what promises to be another slow and unforgiving Lord’s surface, as he prepares once again to lead the line in the first Test against Pakistan in the absence of his long-term new-ball partner, James Anderson.
“I heard about that; it’s the same before every series, you generally get a bit of trash talk”, said Root, of Wahab’s comments.
The trio were also banned from competing in cricket by the ICC, with Amir getting a five-year ban, Asif a seven-year ban and Butt a ten-year ban.
“Our focus and concentration is to win this Test match and play as good as we can for our country and win this game”.
“He was with us past year in the Ashes when he was injured and in Durban during the winter, when we beat South Africa”.
Even so, he is steeling himself for repeat circumstances.
He added: “I stick by my initial reaction but if he’s making a comeback, all the best to him”. As a bowler, that tells you to pitch it up. “I hope it will go the same here”, the 30-year-old said.
Anderson’s omission from England’s 12-man squad was a surprise, after mixed reports on the seriousness of his injury.
Broad added: “Personally, I would have liked Jimmy in the 13 so you have got him around the bowlers, pushing his fitness to maybe play on Thursday”.
“His bowling stats have improved a lot and he is a very decent bowler and it will be good to see him around the squad for the first time this week”.
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“I tend to disagree a little bit because I’ve always felt that Pakistan has a bad history of fixing and all that kind of stuff”, said Raja, a member of the MCC World Cricket Committee which met at Lord’s on Tuesday. “That is part and parcel, that when you do something like that there are more consequences than just the punishment – that is something for him to cope with, whatever comes his way”, Cook said. “And as a bowling unit we’ve got Mohammad Amir back and we have the likes of Sohail Khan who I think will be very effective here as well”. “It should be exciting, we’ve got a really good team and we will put up a great fight against England”.
