Tendulkar was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying, “The guys who have chose to penalise him have done that and he has served a sentence”. Amir was in his teenage, when he was accussed of committing the crime, under the influence of senior players Mohammed Asif and Salman Butt. The left-arm fast bowler will certainly be under pressure as he returns to test cricket after a ban of five years. The 42-year-old, who failed in his plan to earn an early-summer county deal, instead felt a duty to forge on for what is his first cricket on English soil.
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Alastair Cook’s first priority in the Lord’s Test will be either to deal with the reality of Mohammad Amir’s controversial return, or James Anderson’s absence. “He does not get a wicket every time he bowls a ball, so we have to be careful not to build him up in our own minds – but we know how skilful he is”.
Nottinghamshire bowler Jake Ball will make his England debut in the first Test against Pakistan, which begins on Thursday.
Derek Brewer, MCC Chief Executive, said: “Everyone at MCC is keenly anticipating the England v Pakistan Investec Test Match on Thursday, and it should be another great occasion”.
Woakes struck with the first ball of his second over to dismiss Shan Masood on seven, after the left-hander sent a thick top edge into the gloves of Jonny Bairstow to leave Pakistan at 38-1.
“I think that’s probably harsh”, said Root.
Amir is part of a 12-man squad for the tourists and will line up alongside the fellow left-armer Wahab Riaz and the leg-spinner Yasir Shah, plus one of seamer Rahat Ali and Imran Khan, in the bowling attack.
The International Cricket Council’s “zero tolerance” approach to match-fixing was sternly tested in the scam.
The pitches in England are going to help the fast bowlers a lot so the Pakistan batsmen will have to on their toe’s because they will have to face the moving ball of Anderson and Broad which is not going to be easy for them and a lot depends on their experienced batsmen like Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan.
An initially sunny day at Lord’s would have encouraged Misbah to bat first although the skies had clouded over a touch after he won the toss.
Once Jimmy Anderson and Ben Stokes get fit they are a match for any and, looking at the series, should have enough to beat a Pakistan side who only have one win here since 2001. At Lords ground, both came against each other in 13 tests, as 4 times England won, 3 times Pakistan won and 6 matches were drawn.
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“‘Cooky’ takes the mick out of me, saying you’ve got such a great record batting where you do, but you should do it at the top where it really matters”, Root said. The Daily Mail has reported that selection talks became heated, with coach Trevor Bayliss pushing for his inclusion but James Whitaker, Angus Fraser and Mick Newell against him being involved.
