'At first I thought that a bomb had gone off' says Trescothick

Marcus Trescothick feared a bomb had gone off during the second Test between Pakistan and England when a deafening blast reverberated around the Iqbal Stadium at 3.30pm (local time) yesterday.

Trescothick, who was preparing to face a ball from Shoaib Akhtar, jumped on hearing the explosion, which was followed by unnerving silence, before racing towards the England dressing room with his partner Ian Bell. As both teams left the field they were met by local police and the England team's security guards who told them to stay where they were.

Officers ran to the site of the blast where it quickly became apparent that the huge bang had been caused by a gas cylinder at a soft drink dispenser bursting.

"My initial reaction was that a bomb had gone off," admitted Trescothick. "But Faisal, our security man, came on and his instant reaction was that it sounded like a gas cylinder or something going off. It was pretty frightening to be honest."

The blast destroyed the drinks machine. A policeman situated close to the drinks machine was hit in the lower leg by a piece of shrapnel, but his injury was not thought to be serious.