June 24, 2003	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 23,1424

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LONDON, June 23: Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said his side had played “better cricket than England” despite losing by four wickets in the third One-day International at Lord’s here on Sunday.

The result saw England complete a come-from-behind 2-1 series win in a match where Pakistan had no luck at all.

Fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami repeatedly beat the bat and marginal umpiring decisions went against Pakistan.

But had Pakistan not dropped England opener Marcus Trescothick on his way to a match-winning unbeaten 108, as well as missing two chances to run out the Somerset left-hander, it might have been a different story.

“Pakistan played extremely well. I’m not ashamed of the loss,” said wicket-keeper Rashid who dropped Trescothick on 93 after Mohammad Hafeez had missed him on 35.

However, Rashid was happy with the progress his new-look team were making after eight senior players were discarded following Pakistan’s first round exit at the World Cup.

“It is very difficult to lose a group of eight world-class players after the World Cup debacle. But the way they have played all three tournaments since (Pakistan won in Sharjah and lost in the final in Sri Lanka before coming to England) is very encouraging.”

Pakistan coach Javed Miandad said the form of several players had impressed him. “Hafeez has improved a lot, (opening batsman) Imran Nazir is playing better cricket than he used to, Sami is bowling well and Yasir Hameed, batting at number three, gave us a good start.

“They still lack experience,” the legendary Pakistan batsman added. “But they are learning a lot.”

Trescothick, who finished the match with a six off Azhar Mahmood as England won with nine balls to spare, also paid tribute to wicket-keeper Chris Read who made 25 not out and helped him put on 77 in 76 balls in worsening light and rain.

For Michael Vaughan this win meant victory in his first series as England’s one-day captain since succeeding Nasser Hussain after the Test skipper quit following the team’s first round World Cup departure.

“To come back from 1-0 down against a side of this quality shows immense character,” said Vaughan, whose team lost Tuesday’s day/night series opener at Old Trafford by two wickets.

Vaughan, who fielded first after winning the toss, added: “We had the better of the conditions but you still have to exploit them.”

Meanwhile, Miandad insisted Shoaib Akhtar had been the ideal team man during the tournament.

Shoaib, 27, who will play for English county side Durham for the rest of the season, has received almost as much criticism for his sometimes wayward bowling and colourful off-field lifestyle as praise for his fearsome speed.—AFP

Our Sports Correspondent adds from Lahore: Chief selector Aamir Sohail has said that although the overall performance of the Pakistan team during the England tour was satisfactory the end result of the series was disappointing.

Talking to Dawn after Pakistan lost the series to England 2-1, Aamir said that Pakistan’s loss upset the fans. “The series is a little bit disappointing in the sense the team finished at the losing end, despite taking 1-0 lead”, Aamir said.

He pointed out that the dropped catches at the crucial stages in the last match and also luck favoured the English which led them to stage comeback in the series.

When asked why four players could not get a chance during the series, despite the fact that some players were not performing well, Aamir replied that the batting order was some what erratic and a change was only possible in this department of the game.

But he said that any change could be made in place of two key players Yousaf Youhana and Younis Khan who produced only one fine innings each in the series.

“But as both are well established batsmen they could not be changed so quickly for any youngster,” he said.

Four players who failed to get a chance in the series were Misbah-ul-Haq, Shabbir, Danish Kanaria and new capped Asad Bilal.

He claimed that the bowling department had done a good job and team was well balanced and with minor changes would give positive results.

Aamir also described the performance of opener Imran Nazir as satisfactory, althogh he failed to play a big innings.

“I think Imran after the first match become shaky and could not play to his true potential in the remaining matches”, Aamir said.

The chief selector said that Imran played good innings in the side matches and therefore his overall performance was not bad.

He said that Yasir Hameed had showed good performance at the crucial third position.

He was hopeful Inzamam-ul-Haq would be considered for the home series against Bangladesh scheduled for August this year.

But when pointed out, that Inzamam had not played any competitive cricket since his dismal performance in the World Cup-2003, the chief selector said that there was possibility of arranging practice matches to test the form and fitness of some players, including Inzamam.

He  said that the Bangladesh series would be a  good opportunity for Inzamam to regain his form before playing against South Africa at home.

When asked why Abdul Razzaq who was originally discarded for the tour by him on the grounds that he was fatigued, Aamir responded that the decision to recall the all-rounder was that of the skipper Rashid Latif.

“Yes, Razzaq’s performance was also satisfactory, but it could be the result of his being rested from the team in the first stage and he played to his true potential to cement his place for future”, he observed.