England face Pakistan 'A' in one-dayer today

Karachi, Oct 21: Fast bowler Mohammad Sami gets a chance to stamp his potential in big cricket when he plays for Pakistan `A' against England in a day and night fixture at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

Sami, considered as quick as an out of commission Shoaib Akhtar, has captured 14 wickets in two Quaid-i-Azam Trophy matches this season at an average of 12.

But the thing that makes the 18-year-old Sami different from others is that he generates pace from an unlike Waqar Younis long run-up. Sami is not only quick off the wicket, he has complete command over his accuracy, line and length as evident from the fact that out of his 14 wickets, six are bowled and as many leg before wickets.

Sami's appearance will surely help the England players have a close look at home as they are expected to face in the Test matches.

England will be playing their last warm-up match before backto-back three one-day internationals on Oct 24, 27 and 30. England haven't named the team but are likely to make just one change with Ashley Giles replacing Paul Grayson.

Pakistan `A' squad includes just two Test players in Hasan Raza and Ijaz Ahmad Junior, while seven have represented Pakistan at different levels. They are Bazid Khan (captain), Humayun Farhat (wicketkeeper), Salman Butt, Zahid Saeed, Yasir Hameed, Naumanullah and Fahad Khan.

The match starts at 2:30 pm and is expected to draw more crowd because of holiday. They spectators turn-out was not good on Friday chiefly because of the high prices of tickets that ranged between Rs 100 to 400.

Teams (to be selected from):

England: Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick, Nasser Hussain (captain), Graeme Hick, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Craig White, Mark Ealham, Ashley Giles, Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough, Paul Grayson, Vikram Solanki, Mark Alleyne and Matthew Hoggard.

Pakistan A: Bazid Khan (captain), Hasan Raza, Humayun Farhat, Salman Butt, Mohammad Sami, Shiraz Haider, Naumanullah, Ijaz Ahmad, Fahad Khan, Zahid Saeed, Zaheer Chauhan, Shahid Yousuf, Akhtar Ali and Yasir Hameed.

Umpires: Feroz Butt and Islam Khan.