He was bowled for four by a James Anderson yorker

He was bowled for four by a James Anderson yorker.Anderson was the pick of England’s bowlers and it was encouraging to see him delivering well again He swung the ball at pace and bowled it in the right areas. This was his best bowling display for England in a couple of years. Stephen Harmison and Ian Blackwell also finished in impressive style. Nobody took on the responsibility of winning the game and they all seemed to leave it to Shahid Afridi to get them out of trouble But Afridi failed to deliver. No England batsman looked comfortable on the surface and each who spent more than 45 minutes at the crease got out as soon as they attempted to be positive.

Pakistan were resting Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami but totals of 206 rarely win 50-over matches unless the pitch is dicey, the batting of the team in second is dreadful or the bowling is brilliant. England’s victory came via a combination of all three.The pitch, situated next to that used for Monday’s low-scoring encounter, was not a minefield but, as the scores suggest, it was difficult to bat on. We bowled really, really well for the second game in a row and fielded quite nicely. It allows us to return home on a bit of a high.
“The one-day series, like the Test series, was a case of ‘what could have been’ The fourth game was probably the killer for us. We could have won that game if we had batted a bit better but, bar the first match, we did not perform well enough with the bat in any of the games.

We are missing important people but we are not using that as an excuse. We are without Michael [Vaughan] and K P [Kevin Pietersen] but we have still got some very good players in our side and it is up to them to keep performing.”For much of the final one-dayer England looked set for another heavy loss, and a 4-1 series defeat. England’s embattled cricketers finished their eight- week tour of Pakistan on a positive note last night when they snatched a surprise six-run victory from the hosts. On too many occasions England fail to play to their full potential when the pressure is on, and it is consistency that wins World Cups.”It was a nice way to finish the tour,” admitted Marcus Trescothick, England’s stand-in captain, whose side ended with a 3-2 disadvantage to Pakistan “We were special in the field. With the five-match series already lost, the win was nothing more than consolation for England but it once again highlighted how competitive they can be when the mood is right. The challenge for the absent captain, Michael Vaughan, and Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, is to get the one-day team playing with the same intensity when it matters. Mulling over a bad match and counting the days until you get home won’t help Keep the mind active.

Get out and live.* BAT RESPONSIBLYThe majority of England’s problems in Pakistan were created by batsmen failing to adapt. The World Cup is less than 15 months away and England are no closer to cracking this form of the game than they were in 2003. Injury prevented the team from playing the style of cricket they intended, yet at times one wonders whether they knew what they were trying to achieve.In South Africa last winter Geraint Jones acted as a pinch-hitter, but this plan was abandoned in the summer and Strauss returned as opener. Yet here they asked Matt Prior to perform the same task as Jones, and once again it did not work. If England had a batsman capable of taking this role then they should play him But they do not. Strauss or Vaughan should open with Trescothick, with Pietersen, Flintoff and Collingwood coming in at four, five and six. It sounds simple, but give it a go.To shine in India England must…* GET OUT MOREStaying in the hotel, calling room service and watching TV are easy ways to waste a day but not the correct approach The players need to get out and enjoy the places they visit.

Yet it still doesn’t make it any easier.The Test team will recover and learn from the defeat. Simon Jones is set to return, and Vaughan, Giles and Pietersen should all be back to full health by the time they leave for India.The future of the one-day team, however, is far more uncertain. The cricket is tough and you have to be mentally strong to handle matters off the field. The hotels and food are excellent, and the welcome warm and genuine, but there is very little to do here other than play cricket But that is what they are there to do, you may say True. The run of six successive Test series victories was going to come to an end eventually and the players were still recovering from the trauma and exhaustion caused by the Ashes.Vaughan’s side had less than a month’s break before they began preparing for Pakistan and these factors, along with the coming and going of players, prevented continuity and increased uncertainty. The injuries to Michael Vaughan, Ashley Giles and Kevin Pietersen could not be avoided but the late arrival of Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison, along with Andrew Strauss’ trip home to be present at the birth of his first child, could.These issues, along with a reluctance to get out and indulge themselves in the local culture, are matters England will have to learn to deal with if they wish to have a more successful tour of India in February 2006.Touring here is very difficult. What happened last summer was not a dream, and England remain a formidable Test team.