Pakistan hope to make full use of practice game

KARACHI: Pakistan will be looking to make full use of their only warm-up game in New Zealand which gets underway at Nelson’s Saxton Oval from Friday (tomorrow).

The three-day game against New Zealand A will be Pakistan’s only opportunity to acclimatise with the local conditions ahead of the two-Test series against the hosts which will begin in Christchurch from November 17.

That’s the reason why the tourists are likely to field almost their first eleven for the practice game.

Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s head coach, has hinted that he would want his best eleven to get some practice ahead of the tough Test series.

That could mean a severe workout for New Zealand’s bowlers with opening batsmen Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali, the vastly experienced Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan and classy support from Asad Shafiq and wicketkeepeer-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed representing a wealth of genuine run-scoring potential.

Arthur was less certain about the make-up of his bowling attack although expected a clinical response from his battery of pace bowlers, including left-armers Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Rahat Ali and right-arm seamers Sohail Khan and Imran Khan. Amir will play for English county Essex next season.

However, the bowler expected to generate plenty of interest during Pakistan’s three-match tour is legspinner Yasir Shah, in outstanding form and with 112 wickets from 18 Test appearances already to his credit.

Agencies add: Meanwhile, Canterbury seamer Kyle Jamieson and Wellington allrounder Luke Woodcock are late additions to the New Zealand A side for the game.

A left-handed bat and left-arm spinner, 34-year-old Woodcock enters the reckoning on the back of some stellar recent batting performances, including his 120-run innings against Northern Districts at the Basin Reserve, followed by his even more substantial 203 not out against Auckland at Eden Park. Both games ended in draws.

Right-armer Jamieson has taken 13 Plunket Shield wickets so far this season and 35 all told in the 21-year-old’s brief 11-match first class career.

Auckland’s Jeet Raval had originally been selected to open the batting with Northern Districts’ Dean Brownlie, although Woodcock’s inclusion now extends the top order batting options. Up and coming Wellington wicketkeeper Tom Blundell will be behind the stumps.

Two men carrying form into the fixture are Canterbury leg spinner Todd Astle and Auckland all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme, both of whom have scored hundreds and contributed with the ball for their provinces this season.

Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan, Colin Munro and George Worker were not considered due to injury, while Scott Kuggeleijn also withdrew from contention.

New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen confirmed that the two players had been added to the initial 12-player selection, with the final call due to be made by coach Bob Carter closer to Friday’s scheduled start.

“It’s a great opportunity for our next tier of international cricketers and we’ve picked the team accordingly,” Larsen said.

“I think it’s a really good mix of young emerging talent and guys who have been round the traps a bit and produced the goods at first class level for a period of time.”

Squads:

Pakistan (from): Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan.

New Zealand A (from): Henry Nicholls (captain), Luke Woodcock, Todd Astle, Tom Blundell, Dean Brownlie, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Ed Nuttall, Bharat Popli, Jeet Raval, Will Young, Kyle Jamieson, Shawn Hicks.