Pakistan Tour of England, 1st Test: Salman Butt Braces Up for English Challenge
After recording a morale boosting win over the Australians in the second Test match at Headingley, Leeds, Pakistan’s newest Test captain, Salman Butt, has declared that the series against England is the ultimate challenge for his young troops.
There is a big presence of cricket fans expected at the venue for the opening match of the four match series, and the match is set to provide real excitement as the ball is expected to swing and seam prodigiously at Trent Bridge.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 and his players were in an upbeat mood in their final training session at the venue of the match.
Pakistan has been forced to make England their second home because of the prevailing security situation in their homeland, and the conditions in their adopted home helped them a great deal, as their pace bowlers took advantage of overcast conditions to help secure a 1-1 series draw against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
The Lahore born Captain Salman Butt feels that the Tests will give new players some invaluable experience.
"Honestly I think England have a very experienced side. What I have with me is a very young side and the new guys just making their debuts and very few test matches on their side but at the same time I would not deny their ability. If they play up to their potential, they will give England a tough time," Butt said.
England boasts of a potent bowling attack with the likes of James Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann more than capable of running through the fragile Pakistani batting line-up.
Butt added that playing against the hosts would be a real challenge, and the team would have to put in more than a cent percent effort if they are to topple them, especially in favourable home conditions.
"With all due respect, I think this is one of the strongest England sides seen in recent history and I think they are in winning streak at the moment. They won the Twenty20 World Cup, they won the Ashes and they have been doing well as a unit and these guys have been playing for quite some time together now. So I think these are the things we are going to look up to and this is going to be a good telling for my guys, you know, to do well over here," he said.
The Pakistan captain added that he and his team were desperate to play a series in their homeland, yet realize that it might not happen soon, as the International Cricket Council is not in a position to stage a series there, since the investigation in the blatant Sri Lankan terror attack last year in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 in Lahore is yet to be completed.
On the other hand, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board has also not been able to persuade the international governing body on the matter yet.
In the prevailing situation, Butt added that his team’s hearts will be with the fans who at the moment are deprived from cheering for their team at home.
"Even if we can't play because of the situation over there at home, I think the people back home still would like us to play and like us to win, and this is the only way we can give them some happiness and something to cheer about - and we would love to do that and we will keep trying our best and to give them something they love."
Teams:
England (from): Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan.
Pakistan (from): Salman Butt (captain), Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yasir-Hameed-c2811.
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