Monday, July 26, 2010

New Pakistan captain Salman Butt savours winning start


Captain Salman Butt savoured victory in his first match at the helm as Pakistan drew the series with Australia 1-1 after a three-wicket win at Headingley.

"For young team to beat Australia, the best Test playing nation in the world, is going to do the world of good to Pakistan cricket," he told BBC Sport.
"We dedicate this win to the people of Pakistan who would have loved to have come and watched us playing at home.

"We remember them and hopefully we'll be back soon playing in Pakistan."
"It was really nerve-wracking towards the end and I think my young team did a great job," added 25-year-old Butt, who was grateful Australia captain Ricky Ponting chose to bat first in helpful bowling conditions on the opening day.

"He would bat on a river as well I think, he bats everywhere!
"It looked good to bat but Mikey [former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding] told me you look up at Headingley not at the pitch and I think he was right."

Pakistan had gone five matches without a Test win, stretching back to New Zealand in December 2009, and had lost 13 successive Tests against Australia.

Butt took over in testing circumstances when Shahid Afridi quit Test cricket following the 150-run defeat in the first Test at Lord's.

"The whole team contributed and it has been a wonderful experience for me. It is difficult to take decisions but that is the time when you are tested and that is the time when you learn," he stated.

"It's a whole new outlook, all of the boys are very young, some of them making their debut, some playing under 10 Test matches."

Looking ahead to the four-match Test series with England beginning at Trent Bridge on Thursday he said: "This is going to be a huge boost for us but England is a different side we have to go to our plans again, see how they are playing and what their line-up is and plan accordingly."

Australia captain Ponting saw a run of seven successive Test victories come to an end and is still to lead his side to a series victory in England in three attempts.
His side could not come back from a disastrous 88 all out on the opening day and asked if he would still have batted first given the opportunity again he said: "Not if I knew the wicket was going to do that much.

"Anyone who saw that wicket would have been surprised by how much it did seam because it looked fairly dry. Pakistan used the conditions perfectly and had our batsmen under pressure all the time.

"We had a good chance to bowl on that first day and they were two for 130 odd which told a big story in the game. We haven't done much right and you can go right back to the toss and everything that happened on the first morning.

"We were always pushing uphill after that first day.
"I'm still pretty happy with where we're going as a group and as a bunch of players, the commitment and fightback we've shown in the last half of the game has been good but not good enough to win a Test."

The 35-year-old was uncertain whether he would return to England as Australia captain in 2013 but when asked if Pakistan would beat Andrew Strauss's team in the four-Test series beginning on 29 July he said: "Let's hope so."

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