Pakistan series will be a test for England, says Paul Collingwood – Cricket News Update
England’s veteran middle-order batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/PD-Collingwood-c2173, claims that their upcoming series against Pakistan will be a tough challenge as the sour memories of the notorious spot-fixing controversy, which occurred during the Test match in August 2010, are
likely to resurface and undermine the game spirit.
Collingwood opines that the both the teams have not been able to forget the tragedy which tarnished their characters badly.
However, the veteran batter argues that the English coach, Andy Flower, will guide the players to feature in the series with a positive and fresh approach.
Talking to the media today, he said, “It will be testing times for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-Flower-c44362 [the coach] is a very shrewd man, who will get the right approach from the
team.”
Colly avers that the spot-fixing saga has brought sheer disrepute to Pakistan in particular, and International cricket generally. He wants both the teams to dry up the bad blood and create a good atmosphere in the series.
He told, “But these three players [Butt, Asif and Amir] have caused an issue for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. They will be scrutinised and people will throw the odd barb. It will be up to England and Pakistan to move on and deliver a fresh approach and create a good atmosphere
and a competitive environment, because that is what will take cricket forward.”
Collingwood was part of the match at Lord’s where http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-Butt-c2418 of Pakistan practiced spot-fixing after accepting bribes from gamblers.
Taking strict action against the trio, the International Cricket Council (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625) has imposed a 5-year ban on each and a British Crown Court has put the threesome behind bars for varied terms.
Pakistan and England have not faced each other in any International match since the Lord’s mishap. Now, the two sides are going to play 3 Tests, 4 ODIs and 3 T20Is at the neutral venue of UAE in January-February 2012. It is being expected to be a nail-biting
series as the Poms will strive to take revenge of the relegation that they experienced in the last encounter.
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