Waqar wary of workload for fast men

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For a brief moment this morning it felt like Pakistan seemed to have gained a foothold in this exciting Test. After Umar Gul's defiant burst with the bat, which relieved them of the burden of following on, Pakistan fought back admirably with their three fast men trampling the England batting order with authority. At 98 for 6, and the lead at 270, Pakistan held their heads high. But as the full house at Trent Bridge welcomed the sun finally breaking through the clouds for the first time in two days about an hour after lunch, the visitors' body language steadily grew weary. With the pitch offering hardly any true bounce or movement and the ball losing its shine, Salman Butt duly rested his pace trio comprising the two Mohammads - Asif and Aamer - and Gul.Subsequently Danish Kaneria, who was introduced for the first time in the day one over before tea, continued to operate from one end while the part-timers Shoaib Malik and Umar Amin bowled innocuous overs for Matt Prior to build to his century and wilt the Pakistan spirits with every additional run.Just like Australia had escaped twice at Lord's after Pakistan's quicks had worked assiduously to demolish the specialist batsmen, Prior led England to recovery and then built further momentum in the company of the tail. What worked in the hosts' favour was there was nothing much for the fast bowler on a dry and slow pitch. Also keeping in mind a long summer ahead, Pakistan did not want to exhaust and risk injury to their match-winning pace trio."The [fast] bowlers were really tired," Waqar Younis, Pakistan coach, said after the day's play. "These [fast] bowlers have been bowling too many overs from the Australia series. We don't want anyone injured and those three our key bowlers." If there was somebody he wasn't impressed with it was his main spinner Kaneria, who Waqar felt was a big letdown. The coach had a blunt appraisal of the legspinner in this match: "We struggled with Danish Kaneria. He was lacking confidence and he really struggled getting his rhythm going, which was tough for us."Astonishingly, Kaneria failed to bowl any maidens and had only one wicket to his credit with his match figures reading: 33-0-171-1. Waqar pointed out that Kaneria's best opportunity to bounce back after an abysmal first-innings performance with the ball came early in the second session today.With Stuart Broad hunting for runs this year and Jimmy Anderson on a king pair and Steven Finn playing only his third Test, Kaneria needed to dominate Prior, England's last specialist batsman. "At a stage when they were six down we just needed somebody to get up and take a wicket but that didn't happen," Waqar said.For most of the afternoon Pakistan allowed things to happen and the early morning promise that Gul had injected into the team with his maiden half-century suddenly seemed distant. For the second time this summer Pakistan were chasing a 400-plus score for victory in the fourth innings - Australia had set them 440 at Lord's - and both times they knew it could've been a much easier, and achievable target.Asked if he was disappointed at his top order failing to survive with about three quarters of an hour before the close of play, Waqar conceded that losing three wickets was too many. "In a way it is always disappointing when you lose wickets when you don't want to especially at the end of the day," Waqar said. "I wasn't expecting three wickets - maybe one, but they were right on target."But the Pakistan coach said he couldn't blame the batsmen entirely, as they had endured a long and taxing day in the field. "It is always tough when you are in the field for 70 overs and then you have to go and bat and it is even tougher for the youngsters," Waqar said. So, is it over for Pakistan in this Test? Waqar nearly admitted defeat. "It seems very, very hard form here on," he said nodding his head. That does not mean he is giving up on the series, because he reckons Pakistan have the ability to fight back just like they caught Ricky Ponting's men by surprise at Headingley."We won against Australia [so] we are a very fine side and I've got no doubt that they can make a comeback. It is a four-match Test series. I haven't given up on this Test yet, but it is not going to be very easy tomorrow."

England aim for swing in Australia

England's fast bowlers will start practising with the Kookaburra balls that will be used during the Ashes as soon as the Test campaign with Pakistan is over. David Saker, the England bowling coach, comes from Victoria and understands the differences between the countries and the conditions.The Australians struggled with swing in the drawn series with Pakistan last month and Saker said his fast men would be working on shaping the Kookaburra balls before the trip Down Under. ''It definitely still swings," Saker told the Sunday Age. "It obviously doesn't swing as much as the Duke ball, but some of that's got to do with the English conditions."Saker believes swing is the best way to bring down a batting order and wants his bowlers to achieve the movement when they attempt to retain the Ashes they won at The Oval last year. ''We'll be endeavouring to try to move the ball in the air for sure, but also we've got two pretty tall, strong pace bowlers [Stuart Broad and Steven Finn] who can get the ball through," he said. "There'll be different ways we'll attack the Australians, for sure.''Finn, 21, was rested before the England-Pakistan series to build up his strength ahead of a busy period. ''We've done that with Stuart Broad and he's come back bigger, stronger and bowling faster than he's ever bowled," Saker said. "There was a lot of criticism from a lot of people outside the English set-up, but the people that were involved in pulling him out of that and getting him stronger were all pretty adamant that he needed that. You mightn't see the improvement straight up but there's no doubt we, as a group, think it's going to be beneficial down the track."

Leighton Burtt switches to Wellington

Fast bowler Leighton Burtt has moved to Wellington from Canterbury for the 2010-11 season. He said the reason behind the shift was to improves his chances of making the New Zealand squad."I have aspirations to play international cricket," Burtt said, "and a move to Wellington, with its excellent first-class structure and the opportunity to make the Basin Reserve my home ground, will hopefully be the catalyst for me in reaching the next level."Burtt, 26, had a moderate season in 2009-10, taking 17 wickets at 28.94 in five first-class matches. Canterbury is his home province and he has played all his senior cricket there. "It has been a hard decision as a born and bred Cantabrian, especially with the family involvement in Canterbury Cricket over a long period of time," he said. "It is a decision based on what is in my best interests from a personal development perspective as well as cricket."Wellington head coach Anthony Stuart said Burtt's signing will help boost his side's fast bowling. "He's built up a good track record as a wicket-taking opening bowler over the past few seasons for Canterbury and he's still a young guy with his best cricket in front of him," Stuart said. "Due to injuries and last season's retirement of Iain O'Brien, we had an inexperienced attack throughout much of last summer and Leighton's arrival will give us an extra dimension with the new ball."Burtt is a former New Zealand Under-19 player but broke through to the Canterbury senior team only at the age of 23. Since then, he has nabbed 76 wickets in 24 first-class games at 33.01. Burtt's signing follows last week's announcement that Grant Elliott will lead Wellington and Jeetan Patel will be his deputy for the coming year after an abysmal 2009-10 season.