The end of Pakistan’s tour has been dominated by the fallout
from the “spot-fixing” allegations made against three of the team’s players — Salman
Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif — who have subsequently been suspended
and charged by the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit.
After being embarrassed 2-0 in a one-sided Twenty20 series,
a patched-up Pakistan has put up a fight in the one-dayers but England has won
both matches so far.
The host side needs one win from the next three games to
claim another series victory ahead of the Ashes tour to Australia this year.
“It’s been a long summer and it would be nice if we could go
out having won every series we’ve played,” England spinner Graeme Swann said.
“That was the aim at the start of it, and I think we’ve got ourselves in a very
good position to do it.”
Without Amir and Asif, Pakistan’s bowling attack has
suffered and it took a further blow when left-arm paceman Wahab Riaz, who
claimed 5-63 on test debut at The Oval last month, was taken in for questioning
by police investigating the fixing allegations.
Riaz was unconditionally released and could make his first
appearance in the one-day series, with Mohammad Irfan struggling for form and
Abdul Razzaq nursing a back problem.
“I have no idea what is going on (with the police
questioning) but what I do know is that he is a part of my squad,” Pakistan
captain Shahid Afridi said. “If I think it’s right then I’ll give him a chance.
If I need him, I will definitely go with him.”
Pakistan lost the opening one-dayer in Durham by 24 runs
before England made it 2-0 on Sunday, successfully chasing down a victory
target of 296 for a four-wicket win with three balls left.
The tourists need to win three successive matches to pull
off an unlikely series win and Afridi still believes in his team.
“I think we should take these opportunities and my team is
capable of beating any team,” Afridi said. “We can win the match, definitely.”
Coming into the summer on the back of a victory in the World
Twenty20 tournament in West Indies, England has beaten Bangladesh, Australia
and now Pakistan across all the game’s formats.
“I think we deserve to be patting ourselves on the back a
little bit, for how much we’ve improved,” Swann said. “But by no means are we
the finished article.”