Date-stamped : 27 Nov95 - 22:29 Tour Match: Patron's XI v England 'A' Sialkot, 25,26,27 November 1995 ====> Day 1, 25 Nov 95 Pooley steps up to steal the limelight - Simon Hughes First day: England A are 298-6 against Patron`s XI THIS tour is all about opportunism. First it was Anthony McGrath and Dean Headley, two people surprised to be in the party, who stole the limelight with the sort of unexpected performances that make these England A trips intriguing. Then, yesterday, a third person with an exquisite sense of timing emerged. Jason Pooley, a late replacement for Andrew Symonds expecting to play a back-seat role until the later stages here, thrust himself forward with a pugnacious display of batting, putting good Pakis- tani spin to pasture in a century that took less than 21/2 hours. Towards the end of his innings he was strutting up the wicket and doing more or less as he pleased. No wonder the Middlesex players call him "peacock". Professional cricket careers hang on a knife edge and last season Pooley suspected he was one innings from being sacked. Pressed into the role of permanent opener because of the departure of Desmond Haynes and Mike Roseberry, he struggled to make an impact and felt by early July that a Sunday League match at Taunton would be his last chance. He made 50, scored more runs in the following championship match and never looked back, finishing the season with five centuries and a county cap. He took guard yesterday at 160 for three, Nick Knight having just gone for a skilful, fluent 107. Despite a tufty wicket and a bewitching leg spinner, Anwar Ali, Pooley was quickly into his stride. As John Emburey had predicted, he was not afraid to use his feet, hit cleanly over the top and punched the ball past midwicket rather in the manner Graham Barlow used to for Middlesex. They share the same pectoral pride too. Pooley shot to his hundred out of 138 made while he was in, and without him and Knight, England would have gained little advan- tage from winning the toss. It was just as well Abdul Qadir, billed in the original opposition, did not show up. Knight dominated the opening stand, regularly gliding seaming balls along the ground to third man with a method he has gleaned from John Edrich. "That made me very pleased," he said. "John and I have worked on keeping my grip soft in defence, so edges don`t carry." Getting into three figures has been something of a hazard for Knight who, before yesterday, had made only one first-class cen- tury since leaving Essex in 1994. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 2, 26 Nov 95 Munton neatly into the groove - Simon Hughes Second day: England A (298-6 dec & 10-2) lead a Patron`s XI (187-9 dec) by 121 runs THERE`S a mechanical essence to Tim Munton`s bowling style which makes it permanently reliable. It was not, therefore, a revela- tion to see him crush the heart out of Patron`s XI less than 48 hours after arriving to play for England A in Pakistan. Machines usually travel well, of course. Bowling unchanged until lunch was probably not what he expected when he arrived. He was only told to get out here on Tuesday and had not bowled since August. No matter, he was straight on the spot and could have had eight wickets instead of five. Four of these were captured within 13 balls after the first drinks break. Two were caught by Anthony McGrath, sharing the keeping duties with Dominic Ostler, Nasser Hussain held another edge at first slip and Akram Raza`s stumps were spreadeagled. Mike Smith had failed to make a breakthrough with the new ball, gingerly trying out his injured side muscle, but then pounced cat-like at mid-on to run out the opener Shahid Ahmed. That made the score 34 for one, which Munton and Craig White reduced to 48 for six. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 3, 27 Nov 95 Injured Smith to return home - Simon Hughes Third day of three: England A (298-6 dec & 130-4 dec) drew with Patron`s XI (187-9 dec & 88-3) EXACTLY a month after arriving in Pakistan, England A relin- quished their 100 per cent record as the game with the Patron`s XI fizzled out yesterday. After weeks of cloudless skies, rain and lightning arrived in Lahore last night as if to symbolise the hosts` change of mood. Their team for Friday`s second Test is expected to provide much stiffer opposition. Halfway through their tour the players are still in good heart despite the boredom of long evenings (play rarely extends beyond 4.30pm) with nothing much to do. There are no bars in Lahore, and the smart restaurants dotted about tend to lack atmosphere. So it becomes a question of prolonging dinner in the hotel which, with inordinately slow service, is not usually a problem. Nasser Hussain took a tin of Heinz spaghetti into the restaurant and asked for it to be heated. The waiter returned 20 minutes later, presenting him with the tin on a plate of toast. It was red hot and still unopened. With the weak sun sinking behind the trees soon after a 2.40pm tea, there was never any prospect of a result in this last three-day match, but several players enhanced their reputations during it. Jason Pooley was one - he will probably play in the second Test instead of Anthony McGrath - and young Pakistani pace bowler Shahid Nazir another. Shaun Udal at last got a chance to turn his arm over for more than 10 minutes and got boundary-line tuition from John Emburey, and Tim Munton confirmed what we already knew: that he is a faithful bowling machine which, after a quick oil and grease, operates effectively under any conditions. He took seven for 67 in the match. The Patron`s XI were set a token 242 to win and soon declined to 18 for three mainly because of Munton`s awkward length. Mike Smith bowled four lively overs, but complained that he was still feeling his side injury and with no more matches except Tests and one dayers, the tour committee feel they cannot really afford a passenger any longer. Munton will therefore remain as his replacement for the rest of the tour. Fresher conditions are expected in Rawalpindi and Islamabad - twin cities only 10 miles apart. This suggests England may well play a three-pronged seam attack in the Test. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu)