*LONDON – Mohammad Amir appeared to prove his fitness as Pakistan drewtheir final warm-up match ahead of the start of their two-Test seriesagainst England.*
A two-day game against Leicestershire was always likely to end in a drawand that was the case as the Midlands county finished on 226 for six inreply to Pakistan´s first innings 321 for nine declared.
Amir was one of several first-choice players rested from this match aheadof the first Test at Lord´s starting Thursday after suffering a recurrenceof a longstanding knee problem during Pakistan´s preceding five-wicketvictory over Test debutants Ireland in Malahide, Dublin completed onTuesday.
The left-arm quick did however bowl at a lively pace on the side of thesquare during the lunch break and is understood not to have suffered anyadverse reaction.
Amir, now 26, saw his cricket career almost ended for good after he wascaught up in a spot-fixing scandal during a 2010 Test against England atLord´s.
He was given a jail sentence by an English court and a five-year ban by theInternational Cricket Council, but made his return to the world stage twoyears ago.
In Amir´s absence, Pakistan still had several frontline bowlers playingagainst Leicestershire, who kept the tourists at bay thanks to a fifty fromAteeq Javid.
That Pakistan failed to dismiss Leicestershire, a Second Division county,may be regarded as disappointing but tor fixtures are a notoriouslyunreliable guide to how a team will perform in Test matches.
It is only two years ago since Pakistan, albeit with now retired batsmenMisbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan in the side, drew a four-Test series inEngland 2-2.
They also upset the odds to beat arch-rivals India in the final of lastyear´s Champions Trophy one-day tournament at The Oval in London.
That 2016 series also saw the now injured Yasir Shah play a key role andthe performance of the leg-spinner´s teenage replacement Shadab Khan couldnow have an important bearing on this year´s shortened campaign.
Pakistan look likely to stick with the same side that beat Ireland withEngland, who failed to win a single one out of seven Test during theirrecent tours of Australia and New Zealand, recalling talented ball-strikerJos Buttler to a reshaped batting line-up. – APP/AFP