Bari tackles Pakistan's opening problem

Pakistan will be looking to their middle-order in a bid to resolve their opening conundrum before England arrive for a series of three Tests and five one-day internationals.

Wasim Bari, Pakistan's chief selector, told Cricinfo that they were considering trialing middle-order batsmen as openers in a series of practice matches in a bid to find a settled opening pair. "It has been a problem for us so we might look at using someone from the middle-order and move them up to open. We are looking at Shoaib Malik and Bazid Khan as options."

Over the last year, encompassing a span of ten Tests in three different countries, Pakistan have tried no fewer than nine different opening combinations and six different batsmen as openers. Yet in the 20 innings, there have been only five stands of fifty or more and a solitary century stand, between Yasir Hameed and Salman Butt at Sydney.

The problem, as Bari conceded, has been a major concern and he acknowledged the need for a fresh approach. "We have tried so many openers but there is something missing in them. So we need to look at other options to resolve the problem."

Malik has cemented his place at No. 3 in the ODI team although he has yet to do the same in the Test side. He has opened once at Test level - against West Indies at Sabina Park in June - and scored a fifty in the second innings, although he struggled initially against the new ball.

Pakistan, however, are keen to persist with him and Malik has also expressed his readiness to play as an opener. He opened in last month's four-day match between Pakistan A and Australia A in Rawalpindi and turned out as opener again, without success, in the recent four-day practice match between a Pakistan XI and Peshawar.

The practice match, staged in Peshawar was abandoned after the first day due to the earthquake that rocked much of northern Pakistan on Saturday. But two more four-day matches are scheduled to be played in Karachi and Lahore. The matches are seen, simultaneously, as preparation for national team players, some of whom have not played since the West Indies series, and also as an opportunity for the selectors to cast an eye over emerging young players on the fringes of the national squad.

Some of them, such as Umar Gul and Mansoor Amjad, the legspinning allrounder who helped Pakistan Under-19 win the World Cup last year, have impressed Bari in the A series against Australia, as well as the practice match.

Bari hinted that these players might find a place in the final squad. "Umar Gul is back bowling at his best level now. He bowled very well against Australia A and did so again on the first day of the practice match at Peshawar [he took five wickets]. Hasan Raza [who scored a century in that match] has also been very impressive for some time now in the A sides. But I have been very impressed by Mansoor Amjad who really has been a great discovery. He is very mature and shows it in his batting and bowling."

The squad is expected to be announced after the last four-day practice game in Lahore. That match, says Bari, is expected to see both Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar playing for the Pakistan XI. Bari said he had seen Shoaib play in the Super Series but was unwilling to comment further on his performances or his chances for selection against England.

"We will sit down and talk about it. Let's see first how he performs in the six-day Test against Australia if he plays. But we will also look at him in the four-day practice match at Lahore."