Inzamam wants winning England swan song by AFP

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Player:	Naved-ul-Hasan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Inzamam-ul-Haq
Event:	Pakistan in British Isles 2006

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DateLine: 26th June 2006

 

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq said he would love a win on his final England tour as his side fly out Sunday for a tough two-and-a-half month tour.

 

Inzamam is leading the 15-men squad to England where they will play four Tests, five one-day internationals and side matches.

 

"This would be my last tour of England so I want to make it memorable with a win," Inzamam told AFP before the team's departure for London.

 

The 36-year-old master batsman made his Test debut at Edgbaston on Pakistan's tour in 1992 and has since played 109 Tests for Pakistan scoring 8,266 runs - second only to Javed Miandad's Pakistan record of 8,832.

 

Pakistan do not have a tour of England in the ICC (International Cricket Council) future tour programme announced up to 2012.

 

Inzamam said his side have prepared extensively for the tour and were in high spirits.

 

"We have had some good preparations for the tour and in all departments we are capable enough to achieve the best results in England," said Inzamam.

 

"If they have four to five players injured we too have two of our strike bowlers in Naved-ul Hasan and Shoaib Akhtar injured so it's even when you enter the ground," said Inzamam.

 

Pakistan will wait on Naved's groin injury reports due on Wednesday in London before deciding who takes the final spot in the touring party.

 

If Naved is ruled out, left-arm swing bowler Samiullah Niazi or veteran leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed would fill in.

 

England, who beat Australia to win the Ashes last year, are embroiled in an injury crisis with captain Michael Vaughan (knee), Simon Jones (knee), Ashley Giles (hip), Andrew Flintoff (ankle) and James Anderson (back) all sidelined.

 

They struggled to square a three-Test series against Sri Lanka 1-1 and have conceded an unassailable 3-0 lead in the on-going five-match series.

 

Inzamam hoped Sri Lanka's win over England could motivate his side.

 

"If Sri Lanka squared the Test series and won the one-day series they achieved that simply by playing good cricket so we too need to play good cricket to beat England and we are capable of doing that.

 

"Likewise we have not lost a series in England since 1982. This seems encouraging but we can keep the momentum only if we play well."

 

Pakistan play a one-day international against Scotland at Edinburgh on Tuesday before playing two side matches against Leicestersire and England 'A.'

 

The first of four Tests starts at Lord's from July 13.

 

Squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Faisal Iqbal, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir.

 

Coach: Bob Woolmer. Manager: Zaheer Abbas.

(Article: Copyright © 2006 AFP)