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."

A tale of two wicketkeepers

Innings of the day
Matt Prior's last Test century came in Trinidad in March 2009, 17 Tests and 15 months ago - the same game, in fact, that Kevin Pietersen last notched up three figures. And while KP's travails continued for another match, Prior lapped up his acclaim with an innings that was in equal parts fraught and flamboyant. He had made just 63 when he was joined by the No. 11, Steven Finn, but with a burst of acceleration, he smacked consecutive sixes off Danish Kaneria to move into the nineties. Thereafter it was a crawl, as he took a single from the first ball of four consecutive overs, with Finn left to hold up an end. Admittedly Prior's quest was aided by some puzzling captaincy from Salman Butt, who left his strike bowlers to graze in the outfield, but a cut for three off Shoaib Malik brought up a very cathartic landmark.Breakthrough of the day
England knew they were in for a torrid second innings from the moment they lost Andrew Strauss in dramatic circumstances in the first over, as he fenced at an outswinger from Mohammad Aamer, for Umar Akmal at second slip to parry the catch up and away, and into the outstretched gloves of his wicketkeeping brother, Kamran. However, for all the excitement of the moment, it was hardly a surprise that Aamer made such an early inroad - such instant effectiveness is his stock in trade. On six occasions in 11 Tests to date, he's claimed a wicket in his first over of the innings, not to mention twice in 18 ODIs, and a whopping seven times in 18 Twenty20s.Mix-up of the day
Eoin Morgan's first-day hundred is looking more and more impressive the longer this game goes on, but any hopes he had of adding a second significant score to the mix were thwarted in the 38th over, when Matt Prior - who had himself been run out by Graeme Swann in the first innings - was this time at fault with a piece of crass calling. A square drive through point tempted Prior to turn a comfortable two into a tight three, only for him to change his mind abruptly as the throw came in from the deep. Morgan was sent scrambling as the ball was relayed to the non-striker's end, but he was caught well short as Umar Akmal gathered at the base of the stumps.Catch of the day
It was a screamer as Shane Warne gushed rightly on TV. Kevin Pietersen was coming into his own after a dicey start to his innings, but the appearance behind the bowler's arm of a spectator in a yellow jumper visibly distracted him. No sooner had he requested the garment's removal, Pietersen moved forward to an inducker from Gul, tried to drive with bat away from body, and found a thick inside-edge that sailed over the stumps and seemed destined to end at the fine-leg boundary. But with shocking dexterity, Kamran Akmal swiftly shuffled a few yards to his left and then threw himself one-handed to pouch an absolute stunner. Akmal's fumbles behind on the first day had demoralised Pakistan severely, so to see him come up with this amazing effort had everyone gasping.Clanger of the day
Alas, normal service resumed the very next delivery for Kamran. Paul Collingwood, the new batsman, tried to cut hard against a short and wide delivery and flashed an edge high towards first slip. Kamran, standing wide on the off side launched himself skywards with his confidence bubbling over, but instead the ball hit his webbing and spilled over towards the back of second slip, leaving him on the turf, head down in shame. Somehow he finished the innings with a respectable four catches and a share in a run-out, but it's the ones that got away that will continue to grate.Collapse of the day
For surely the first time in England, a full day's Test cricket was played with the assistance of floodlights after a gloomy start to the morning. But in a thrilling final half-hour, the extra wattage was superfluous, as England's seamers electrified the game situation under the brightest sunshine of the day. It was Stuart Broad, a touch off-colour in the first innings, who sparked Pakistan's latest collapse with two wickets in three deliveries - a fizzing catch from Paul Collingwood at third slip and a somewhat fortuitous lbw against Azhar Ali, who really hasn't enjoyed his flirtation with UDRS in this contest. When James Anderson made it three in seven balls with another, less contentious lbw, the contest seemed over in all but name. Had it not been for Umar Gul's thrilling strokeplay in the first half-hour of the day, a three-day finish would surely have been in prospect.