and they beat world XI again today by 56 runs.
illl never get why pollock was made captain.
illl never get why pollock was made captain.
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England arrived in Pakistan early on Wednesday to begin a tour captain Michael Vaughan described as "one of the toughest challenges of all".
The squad arrived in the capital Islamabad at 0200 local time (2200 GMT Tuesday) after a flight from Heathrow.
Vaughan toured Pakistan five years ago but did not play in the Test series, which England won 1-0.
"I saw how much hard work went into that series victory, how much planning and preparation was required," he said.
"And we're going to have to do exactly the same thing this time."
Spinner Ashley Giles and opener Marcus Trescothick were the only current players who appeared in the 2000 Tests, under captain Nasser Hussain.
But Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff, and Matthew Hoggard were part of the touring party.
"The team that Nasser brought here was quite experienced with a lot of old pros," Vaughan said.
"We bring a team which is quite young with a lot of players who have not played in these conditions before.
"But they're very good players, as they showed in the summer, and they've learned very fast in the short spells they've had in the international game.
"It's probably one of the toughest challenges of all, playing in Pakistan and trying to get a series victory as Nasser and the lads did last time."
Because of security fears, England's players will be guarded like visiting heads of state.
But Giles said the team's last visit was "a very good trip for team bonding because there wasn't a lot to do apart from watching films and talking."
They begin their first match against a strong PCB Patron's XI in Rawalpindi on Monday.
Stars Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, who took part in the recent Super Series in Australia, will not join the squad until 6 November.
The first of three Tests begins in Multan six days later and there are five one-day internationals in the seven-week trip.
Unlike their last trip to the country, England will not take a trip to the Khyber Pass and there will be no match in Peshawar, the nearest cricketing venue to the Afghanistan border.
They will take part in a golf tournament to raise funds for the victims of the 8 October earthquake in Kashmir, which killed more than 53,000 people.
"If we can bring a few smiles back on some of the faces by playing good cricket, that's what we're here to do," Vaughan added.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/4377508.stm
Yee w/ cricket knowledge, what are your predictions?
The squad arrived in the capital Islamabad at 0200 local time (2200 GMT Tuesday) after a flight from Heathrow.
Vaughan toured Pakistan five years ago but did not play in the Test series, which England won 1-0.
"I saw how much hard work went into that series victory, how much planning and preparation was required," he said.
"And we're going to have to do exactly the same thing this time."
Spinner Ashley Giles and opener Marcus Trescothick were the only current players who appeared in the 2000 Tests, under captain Nasser Hussain.
But Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff, and Matthew Hoggard were part of the touring party.
"The team that Nasser brought here was quite experienced with a lot of old pros," Vaughan said.
"We bring a team which is quite young with a lot of players who have not played in these conditions before.
"But they're very good players, as they showed in the summer, and they've learned very fast in the short spells they've had in the international game.
"It's probably one of the toughest challenges of all, playing in Pakistan and trying to get a series victory as Nasser and the lads did last time."
Because of security fears, England's players will be guarded like visiting heads of state.
But Giles said the team's last visit was "a very good trip for team bonding because there wasn't a lot to do apart from watching films and talking."
They begin their first match against a strong PCB Patron's XI in Rawalpindi on Monday.
Stars Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, who took part in the recent Super Series in Australia, will not join the squad until 6 November.
The first of three Tests begins in Multan six days later and there are five one-day internationals in the seven-week trip.
Unlike their last trip to the country, England will not take a trip to the Khyber Pass and there will be no match in Peshawar, the nearest cricketing venue to the Afghanistan border.
They will take part in a golf tournament to raise funds for the victims of the 8 October earthquake in Kashmir, which killed more than 53,000 people.
"If we can bring a few smiles back on some of the faces by playing good cricket, that's what we're here to do," Vaughan added.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/4377508.stm
Yee w/ cricket knowledge, what are your predictions?
i didnt actually see the India match.but ive heard Dhoni slaughtered them.is 10 sixes a world record?i dont really remember the number of sixes afridi hit his 37 ball century.
i think making dravid the captain was the right move.and he's doing good already.Sachin is looking very good.I expect India to come back on track again after some recent below par performances.and if they keep on performing this way,i dont see ganguly coming back in the team.
im a big ifran pathan fan though.he's looking very good.extremley talented guy.
and im i the only one who thinks that murali is looking a shadow of his former self ever since he came back after the injury?
im glad dhoni didnt score 14 more runs though
was he not out btw?
i think making dravid the captain was the right move.and he's doing good already.Sachin is looking very good.I expect India to come back on track again after some recent below par performances.and if they keep on performing this way,i dont see ganguly coming back in the team.
im a big ifran pathan fan though.he's looking very good.extremley talented guy.
and im i the only one who thinks that murali is looking a shadow of his former self ever since he came back after the injury?
im glad dhoni didnt score 14 more runs though
was he not out btw?
England's preparations for the first Test against Pakistan suffered a blow with an embarrassing six-wicket defeat in their final warm-up match in Lahore.
Pakistan A cruised to their target of 245 with more than a session to spare thanks to Hasan Raza's unbeaten 71.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff took three wickets for the tourist but there was little else to cheer for the bowlers.
With captain Michael Vaughan nursing a knee injury, England's worries are mounting with the Test four days away.
Pakistan A cruised to their target of 245 with more than a session to spare thanks to Hasan Raza's unbeaten 71.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff took three wickets for the tourist but there was little else to cheer for the bowlers.
With captain Michael Vaughan nursing a knee injury, England's worries are mounting with the Test four days away.
Pakistan A began the final day on 31-1 but were never in any real trouble even though 30 wickets had fallen on the first two days.
Matthew Hoggard went for 18 runs in two overs before being replaced by Flintoff, who struck a blow of sorts when Imran Farhat retired hurt after being hit on the hand.
England also had another injury scare when Andrew Strauss left the field with a hamstring problem, but he returned soon afterwards.
Nightwatchman Shahid Nazir inflicted further pain on the tourists when he smashed 43 from just 31 balls, including two sixes, before Flintoff yorked him.
A superb return catch from Flintoff removed Faisal Athar soon after to give England hope of a second successive tour victory.
But stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick had plenty of problems as Raza and Yousuf continued to plunder runs.
They put on 50 before lunch and continued to coast after the interval, with Raza smashing three sixes.
Their stand was worth 128 when Flintoff trapped Yousuf lbw with a slower yorker, but Farhat returned to knock off the remaining 23 runs with Raza.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/4416672.stm
Pakistan A cruised to their target of 245 with more than a session to spare thanks to Hasan Raza's unbeaten 71.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff took three wickets for the tourist but there was little else to cheer for the bowlers.
With captain Michael Vaughan nursing a knee injury, England's worries are mounting with the Test four days away.
Pakistan A cruised to their target of 245 with more than a session to spare thanks to Hasan Raza's unbeaten 71.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff took three wickets for the tourist but there was little else to cheer for the bowlers.
With captain Michael Vaughan nursing a knee injury, England's worries are mounting with the Test four days away.
Pakistan A began the final day on 31-1 but were never in any real trouble even though 30 wickets had fallen on the first two days.
Matthew Hoggard went for 18 runs in two overs before being replaced by Flintoff, who struck a blow of sorts when Imran Farhat retired hurt after being hit on the hand.
England also had another injury scare when Andrew Strauss left the field with a hamstring problem, but he returned soon afterwards.
Nightwatchman Shahid Nazir inflicted further pain on the tourists when he smashed 43 from just 31 balls, including two sixes, before Flintoff yorked him.
A superb return catch from Flintoff removed Faisal Athar soon after to give England hope of a second successive tour victory.
But stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick had plenty of problems as Raza and Yousuf continued to plunder runs.
They put on 50 before lunch and continued to coast after the interval, with Raza smashing three sixes.
Their stand was worth 128 when Flintoff trapped Yousuf lbw with a slower yorker, but Farhat returned to knock off the remaining 23 runs with Raza.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/4416672.stm
As Pakistan and England meet for their first 2005 test match in the city of Multan, Owen Bennett-Jones reflects on how seriously people there take the game.
He was a 25-year-old talib, or religious student, called Ali.
He came from Peshawar and had been educated in one of Pakistan's madrassas, or Islamic seminaries, since he was six years old.
With his wispy beard and serious face he had a pretty austere, puritanical view of life.
"People shouldn't fly kites," he argued (kite flying is quite a sport among Pakistani boys), "because they can hurt people when they hit the ground."
Dancing, listening to music and watching television were all wrong, he said.
I tried to find a chink in the armour and said: "Ah well, as a Pakistani you must at least love cricket?"
"Cricket?" He raised his eyes to the heavens.
"Why all this cricket, cricket, cricket? Don't people realise they are wasting their time? People should think of Allah, not cricket."
In the stands
Atheists may say religion is the opium of the people. In Pakistan, the most religious people think it is cricket that dulls the minds of the masses.
Not that I have ever seen a dulled mind at a Pakistani cricket match. Far from it.
Wanting to see the real thing, I decided for one match to abandon the air-conditioned press box of the stadium in Lahore and went down in the stands instead.
It was hot and it was rough.
I was surrounded by young lads just determined to have a good time. They jostled and joked, surged, pushed and shoved.
Pleasure and dismay
In England you would have written them off as drunk but, of course, in Pakistan they had not had a drop.
As fortunes on the pitch ebbed and flowed in the way they do in a cricket match, they roared with pleasure and groaned in dismay.
They were not just hoping for a Pakistani win, they were demanding it.
As far as I am aware, Pakistan - in its 58-year history - has produced world champions in only three sports: the card game bridge, squash and cricket.
Now, bridge is the preserve of the urban elite and most Pakistanis have never heard of it.
Squash in Pakistan is a family affair. I have never seen a squash court anywhere in the country, yet one family, the Khans of Peshawar, have produced seven world-class players over a 50-year period.
One of them, Jahangir, is reckoned to have been the greatest squash player of all time.
'Glued to TV'
But, for all that, it is cricket that has captured the nation's hearts.
Senior Pakistani military officers have told me their nightmare is an Indian military move in Kashmir while a Test match is on.
"We'd be completely defenceless," they say.
"It's not just the men, it's the officers too. They'd all be glued to the TV."
I have seen the game played in the back alleys of Peshawar, on lush Punjabi plains and even in the dusty, arid land of the remote tribal territories.
Anywhere, everywhere and all day long.
When I lived in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, some of the local men and boys used to meet up for a game each evening on a patch of wasteland near my house.
It was their equivalent of going down to a bar for a beer after work, a chance to relax at the end of the day.
I used to join in the cricket every now and again and, much to their delight, the man from the country which invented the sport was hopelessly outclassed.
Street cricket
Even in the most casual game the bowling was fast and accurate, the catching sharp.
They call this informal game "street cricket" and it has produced some of Pakistan's greatest players.
Since a tennis ball is too soft and a cricket ball too hard for close-quarter, urban conditions, it is played with a tennis ball wrapped in insulating tape.
But nearby windows are still at risk.
And some of Pakistan's greatest batsmen say they never get out "caught" because, as a child, they always had to hit the ball along the ground for fear of breaking a window and being scolded by their mothers.
Like myself, my children could never compete with the Pakistani street cricketers.
But some of the passion for the game did rub off on them.
Supporting the 'opposition'
A couple of years ago I took them to an England v Pakistan test match at Lords.
We were recently back from living in Islamabad where my two boys had been given Pakistani cricket shirts.
They decided to wear them to the match.
Among the more elderly English gentlemen there was confusion.
As they saw the boys approach in their resplendent green shirts emblazoned with the word "Pakistan", you could see them thinking: "White child, Pakistan shirt. No whites in Pakistan, are there?
"Maybe a family left over from the empire. But no, then they'd be supporting England, surely. What on earth is going on?"
And by then we would have passed them. One or two went as far as scowling as we did so.
The Pakistani fans had a very different take. The boys were mobbed.
"You support Pakistan! Of course you do! They're the greatest team!
"Who's your favourite player? Shoaib Akhtar, the 'Rawalpindi Express'?
"As quick as a train, the fastest in the world. Just wait, he'll bowl them all out!"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4428092.stm
baggio read the red
He was a 25-year-old talib, or religious student, called Ali.
He came from Peshawar and had been educated in one of Pakistan's madrassas, or Islamic seminaries, since he was six years old.
With his wispy beard and serious face he had a pretty austere, puritanical view of life.
"People shouldn't fly kites," he argued (kite flying is quite a sport among Pakistani boys), "because they can hurt people when they hit the ground."
Dancing, listening to music and watching television were all wrong, he said.
I tried to find a chink in the armour and said: "Ah well, as a Pakistani you must at least love cricket?"
"Cricket?" He raised his eyes to the heavens.
"Why all this cricket, cricket, cricket? Don't people realise they are wasting their time? People should think of Allah, not cricket."
In the stands
Atheists may say religion is the opium of the people. In Pakistan, the most religious people think it is cricket that dulls the minds of the masses.
Not that I have ever seen a dulled mind at a Pakistani cricket match. Far from it.
Wanting to see the real thing, I decided for one match to abandon the air-conditioned press box of the stadium in Lahore and went down in the stands instead.
It was hot and it was rough.
I was surrounded by young lads just determined to have a good time. They jostled and joked, surged, pushed and shoved.
Pleasure and dismay
In England you would have written them off as drunk but, of course, in Pakistan they had not had a drop.
As fortunes on the pitch ebbed and flowed in the way they do in a cricket match, they roared with pleasure and groaned in dismay.
They were not just hoping for a Pakistani win, they were demanding it.
As far as I am aware, Pakistan - in its 58-year history - has produced world champions in only three sports: the card game bridge, squash and cricket.
Now, bridge is the preserve of the urban elite and most Pakistanis have never heard of it.
Squash in Pakistan is a family affair. I have never seen a squash court anywhere in the country, yet one family, the Khans of Peshawar, have produced seven world-class players over a 50-year period.
One of them, Jahangir, is reckoned to have been the greatest squash player of all time.
'Glued to TV'
But, for all that, it is cricket that has captured the nation's hearts.
Senior Pakistani military officers have told me their nightmare is an Indian military move in Kashmir while a Test match is on.
"We'd be completely defenceless," they say.
"It's not just the men, it's the officers too. They'd all be glued to the TV."
I have seen the game played in the back alleys of Peshawar, on lush Punjabi plains and even in the dusty, arid land of the remote tribal territories.
Anywhere, everywhere and all day long.
When I lived in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, some of the local men and boys used to meet up for a game each evening on a patch of wasteland near my house.
It was their equivalent of going down to a bar for a beer after work, a chance to relax at the end of the day.
I used to join in the cricket every now and again and, much to their delight, the man from the country which invented the sport was hopelessly outclassed.
Street cricket
Even in the most casual game the bowling was fast and accurate, the catching sharp.
They call this informal game "street cricket" and it has produced some of Pakistan's greatest players.
Since a tennis ball is too soft and a cricket ball too hard for close-quarter, urban conditions, it is played with a tennis ball wrapped in insulating tape.
But nearby windows are still at risk.
And some of Pakistan's greatest batsmen say they never get out "caught" because, as a child, they always had to hit the ball along the ground for fear of breaking a window and being scolded by their mothers.
Like myself, my children could never compete with the Pakistani street cricketers.
But some of the passion for the game did rub off on them.
Supporting the 'opposition'
A couple of years ago I took them to an England v Pakistan test match at Lords.
We were recently back from living in Islamabad where my two boys had been given Pakistani cricket shirts.
They decided to wear them to the match.
Among the more elderly English gentlemen there was confusion.
As they saw the boys approach in their resplendent green shirts emblazoned with the word "Pakistan", you could see them thinking: "White child, Pakistan shirt. No whites in Pakistan, are there?
"Maybe a family left over from the empire. But no, then they'd be supporting England, surely. What on earth is going on?"
And by then we would have passed them. One or two went as far as scowling as we did so.
The Pakistani fans had a very different take. The boys were mobbed.
"You support Pakistan! Of course you do! They're the greatest team!
"Who's your favourite player? Shoaib Akhtar, the 'Rawalpindi Express'?
"As quick as a train, the fastest in the world. Just wait, he'll bowl them all out!"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4428092.stm
baggio read the red
