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Last Updated: Wednesday, 2 August 2006, 14:00 GMT 15:00 UK
Farhat finger blow for Pakistan
Imran Farhat
Farhat's loss could be Salman Butt or Taufeeq Umar's gain
Pakistan opener Imran Farhat looks set to miss the third Test against England at Headingley after breaking his right ring finger in the Old Trafford defeat.

Farhat was hurt taking a catch to dismiss Kevin Pietersen and coach Bob Woolmer said he was "struggling".

Salman Butt who played in the opener at Lord's, but was dropped for the second game, or Taufeeq Umar - a late addition to the squad - could be brought in.

Woolmer is also considering playing just one spinner and four seamers.

Shahid Afridi featured at Old Trafford alongside fellow leg-spinner Danish Kaneria but Headingley usually favours quicker bowlers.

There's a good energy in the team, a good vibe and hopefully they'll fight back

Bob Woolmer

However, the tourists are not expecting the bouncy track that caused them problems in Manchester.

"It looks a much better surface than I've ever seen at Leeds," Woolmer explained.

"It's quite dry now. I suspect there won't be the sort of bounce we saw at Old Trafford but we'll have to deal with any surface we get and we'll have to learn to adapt quicker than we did.

"In modern cricket you are looking for seven batsmen and four top-line bowlers. Whether we can do that at the moment, it's not easy.

"But we might have to do that and tell the players to take responsibility and get on with it.

Whoever is chosen, Woolmer says they cannot afford to dwell on the innings defeat inside three days in the second Test.

Bob Woolmer
Woolmer expects his men to do better than they did in Manchester

The Englishman wants his side to draw on their past achievements in coming from 1-0 down in India and the Caribbean and take to the field with confidence.

"We've got to be upbeat. We have to forget Old Trafford and put it right behind us.

"We've had many situations like this - at Bangalore and in Jamaica - but we have a lot of hard work to do.

"We had a very good team meeting two days after the Test match and the boys are very determined to bring it back.

"You have to accept at this level that you can lose. The good thing, funnily enough, was that we lost in three days because it gave us time in which to recover.

"There's a good energy in the team now, a good vibe and hopefully they'll fight back."

England batsman Pietersen also believes the tourists will hit back hard, saying: "They are world-class players and you don't expect them to fail twice in a row in consecutive games.

"Mohammad Yousuf got a double hundred at Lord's and didn't do as well as he would have liked in the last one but you don't expect players like him and Inzamam-ul-Haq to fail regularly and I'm sure they will bounce back."

PAKISTAN SQUAD GUIDE
 

SEE ALSO
Pakistan in England 2006
27 Jun 06 |  Future tour dates
Live cricket on the BBC
19 Apr 06 |  Cricket


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