Manager defuses 'whiff of scandal'

There was a time when managing a touring international cricket team involved nothing more contentious than making sure your hotel rooms had not been double-booked. Nowadays, diplomacy and public relations are rather more of a priority, as Yawar Saeed, the man in charge of the Pakistanis, is fully aware.

As the first whiff of a ball-tampering scandal permeated the Lord's air at the weekend, Yawar's unruffled response has been one of the reasons why the issue has not so far gone much further. "It doesn't really bother me," he said yesterday after waking up to newspaper headlines that took their cue from an inconclusive few seconds of BBC footage.

With the Imran Khan-Ian Botham court case providing further reminders of the volatile nature of Anglo-Pakistan relations, emphasis has inevitably been placed on the ambassadorial side of Yawar's role as his men seek to maintain their tradition of fierce competitiveness while trying to give controversy a wide berth.

"To be honest, whether it's the court case or anything else, we have decided that outside our hotels or dressing room, no pressures are to be brought in," Yawar said. "A lot of things have been blown out of all proportion. We are playing the game we have come to play, positively and to win. We want to win the series and win friends and we shall concentrate on cricket and nothing else."

One advantage for the 62-year-old Yawar is that he is not totally unfamiliar with the way of cricket in England, having played for Somerset in the 1950s. "Certainly it helps if you've played here. You know the people and you understand the culture. Maybe a culture clash is inevitable, but I think Test players must overcome that sort of thing."

His claim that the Test has so far been played in a good spirit is surely a fair one, notwithstanding yesterday's incident in which Pakistan's substitute Moin Khan gave Mike Atherton a bit of lip and was spoken to by the umpire Steve Bucknor. The situation is helped by the fact that the two opposing captains are good enough friends to be going out for dinner last night along with the England coach David Lloyd.

Yawar appreciates the need for cordiality at the very least. "Whether there have been difficulties or not," he said, "relations should be very good between any two countries, and we are very conscious of this." Yawar is certainly trying to do his bit.

Lord's scoreboard

Pakistan won toss

PAKISTAN - First Innings 340 (Inzamam-ul-Haq 148, Saeed Anwar 74).

ENGLAND - First Innings

(Friday: 200 for 5)

G P Thorpe b Ata 77

(241 min, 167 balls, 6 fours)

R C Russell not out 41

(173 min, 110 balls, 5 fours)

D G Cork c Saeed b Ata 3

(7 min, 4 balls)

I D K Salisbury lbw b Waqar 5

(4 min, 5 balls, 1 four)

A D Mullally b Waqar 0

(2 min, 2 balls)

S J E Brown b Ata 1

(23 min, 17 balls)

Extras (b9, lb13, w1, nb4) 27

Total (425 min , 102.4 overs) 285

Fall: 1-27 (Atherton), 2-107 (Knight), 3-107 (Stewart), 4-116 (Hick), 5-180 (Ealham), 6-260 (Thorpe), 7-264 (Cork), 8-269 (Salisbury), 9-269 (Mullally).

Bowling: Wasim Akram 22-4-49-1 (nb1) (11-3-25-1, 5-1-9-0, 6-0-15-0); Waqar Younis 24-6-69-4 (nb1) (3-1-19-0 8-1-20-2, 7-3-12-0, 6-1-18-2); Mushtaq Ahmed 38-5-92-1 (6-1-17-0, 18-2-43-1, 14-2-32-0); Ata-ur-Rehman 15.4-3-50-4 (nb3, w1) (7-1-20-0, 3-0-13-1, 5.4-2-17-3); Aamir Sohail 3- 1-3-0 (one spell).

Progress: Second day: Lunch: 32 for 1 (Knight 15, Stewart 4) 8 overs. 50: 48 min, 12.1 overs. 100: 120 min, 31.3 overs. Tea: 112 for 3 (Thorpe 1, Hick 3) 39 overs. 150: 203 min, 50.4 overs. 200: 276 min, 69.1 overs. Close: 200 for 5 (Thorpe 43, Russell 4) 71 overs. Third day: 250: 361 min, 90.5 overs. Lunch: 269 for 9 (Russell 27) 97.3 overs. Innings closed: 2.01pm.

Knight 50: 127 min, 100 balls, 7 fours.

Thorpe 50: 171 min, 110 balls, 5 fours.

PAKISTAN - Second innings

Saeed Anwar c Russell b Mullally 88

(198 min, 144 balls, 8 fours, 1 six)

Shadab Kabir c Russell b Cork 33

(203 min, 151 balls, 5 fours)

Ijaz Ahmed lbw b Cork 76

(185 min, 126 balls, 9 fours, 1 six)

Mushtaq Ahmed c Thorpe b Brown 5

(21 min, 11 balls, 1 four)

Inzamam-ul-Haq c Ealham b Cork 70

(190 min, 148 balls, 9 fours)

Salim Malik not out 27

(95 min, 58 balls, 3 fours)

*Wasim Akram not out 34

(60 min, 43 balls, 6 fours)

Extras (b4, lb14, nb1) 19

Total (for 5 dec, 480 min , 113.2 overs) 352

Fall: 1-136 (Anwar), 2-136 (Shadab), 3-161 (Mushtaq), 4-279 (Ijaz), 5- 308 (Inzamam).

Did not bat: Aamir Sohail, Rashid Latif, Waqar Younis, Ata-ur-Rehman.

Bowling: Cork 24-4-86-3 (nb1) (4-0-16-0, 6-2-17-1, 4-1-16-0, 10-1-37- 2); Brown 16-2-60-1 (4-0-20-0, 3-2-4-1, 9-0-36-0); Salisbury 20-4-63-0 (7-1-17-0, 3-1-7-0, 7-2-24-0, 3-0-15-0); Mullally 30.2-9-70-1 (6-3-13- 0, 8-1-21-1, 8-4-19-0, 8.2-1-17-0); Hick 7-2-16-0 (one spell); Ealham 16-4-39-0 (9-2-16-0, 3-2-1-0, 2-0-10-0, 2-0-12-0).

Progress: Third day: 50: 44 min, 10.2 overs. Tea: 78 for 0 (Anwar 51, Shadab 14) 22 overs. 100: 128 min, 33.2 overs. 150:215 min, 51.0 overs. Close: 162 for 3 (Ijaz 20, Inzamam 0) 57 overs. Fourth day: 200: 297 min, 71.3 overs. 250: 355 min, 85.1 overs. Lunch: 252 for 3 (Ijaz 62, Inzamam 47) 87 overs. New ball taken after lunch. 300: 406 min, 97.4 overs. 350: 475 min, 112.3 overs. Declaration: 3.38pm.

Anwar 50: 82 min, 63 balls, 5 fours, 1 six.

Ijaz 50: 139 min, 101 balls, 6 fours, 1 six.

Inzamam 50: 152 min, 120 balls, 7 fours.

ENGLAND - Second Innings

N V Knight lbw b Waqar Younis 1

(27 min, 19 balls)

M A Atherton not out 24

(140 min, 100 balls, 3 fours)

A J Stewart not out 46

(111 min, 86 balls, 4 fours)

Extras (lb2, nb1) 3

Total (for 1, 140 min, 34 overs) 74

Fall: 1-14 (Knight).

To bat: G P Thorpe, G A Hick, M A Ealham, R C Russell, D G Cork, I D K Salisbury, A D Mullally, S J E Brown.

Bowling: Wasim Akram 10-4-12-0; Waqar Younis 7-1-25-1; Mushtaq Ahmed 10-4-16-0; Ata-ur-Rehman 6-2-18-0; Salim Malik 1-0-1-0 (one spell each).

Progress: 50: 88 mins, 19.5 overs.

Umpires: S A Bucknor (WI) and P Willey (Eng).

TV Replay Umpire: J W Holder.

Match Referee: P L van der Merwe.