SHARJAH // A day which started with Steven Finn laying down a serious marker ahead of the start of the Test series ended with the sort of semi-comic fare more suited to the village green, and the scorer running out of columns in his score book.
Despite being the template for the sort of bowler that is least suited to the Sharjah wicket, Finn had the remarkable figures of four wickets for two runs by the time he had sent down eight overs. If England’s selectors were feeling the effects of a headache emerging at that point, it was not due to sunstroke or heat exhaustion.
Assumed wisdom had it that the team England had named for the first of these two, two-day warm-up matches here had been the prospective side for next week’s Abu Dhabi Test. Finn was not part of that bowling line up — James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood were the seam bowlers. He could not have pressed his claims any more forcefully than he did here, though.
At the end of Pakistan A’s innings, his return was four for 16 from 15 overs, including eight maidens. The farce of it was, his haul made up only a third of the wickets which fell.
Khurram Manzoor, Ali Asad and Usman Salahuddin each batted twice in the innings, for a combined total of 17.
Adnan Akmal, the wicketkeeper, made a fine 74 not out, yet still managed to run out of partners, as the Pakistan A innings finally ended on 192 for 12. There was a tacit agreement before the start of play that the two sides would have a day each to bat, hence the second chances.
Finn was just happy with the work out, especially given it gave him chance to further his case for inclusion in the side for Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
“I would say I’ve staked a claim,” Finn said. “I would still be surprised if I played the first Test, to be honest.
“The guys bowled really well the other day” in the first warm-up match, “and it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the team that was picked for the Test.
“But nothing is set in stone. I felt good for today. I felt like I bowled well in the summer, I felt like I have brought that out here, and it is just about trying to keep that going, so if I am called upon at any stage, I am ready to go.”
Not for the first time this week, the batsmen found run-scoring tough in the face of good bowling and a slow outfield. Akmal top-scored, while Sami Aslam, who made 43 at the top of the order, and Umar Amin impressed. Amin was struck on the elbow by Finn, and said facing the fast bowler had been a challenging assignment.
“He has been doing very well for England over the past two years, he showed that form here,” Amin said. “The good thing about his bowling was he was picking up wickets along the way but was keeping it very tight at the same time. It was difficult to get him away.”
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