Woolmer frustrated at lack of play

Bob Woolmer has given his full backing to Shoaib Malik in his role as opener and asked the media to end speculation about Pakistan’s opening combination. Malik is the latest solution to Pakistan’s opening conundrum and on the opening day of the first Test, he scored a neat 59. That innings followed an indifferent performance in the series against England where although he made steady starts, spent time at the crease and contributed to three fifty-plus opening stands, he never managed to make a significant score himself.Malik’s fifty – his fourth in Tests – was his second as opener, following one against the West Indies in June last year. “There’s a lot of media speculation about Pakistan’s opening position. Shoaib Malik was chosen because he is less likely to get out caught in the slips. For some reason everyone in the media thinks he is more likely to get out caught in the slips. I’m not denigrating any of the past openers we’ve had but they used to get out caught in the slips. Malik is a very fine three-in-one cricketer. He can bowl off-spin very well, he is a very fine batsman and he is a brilliant fielder. He doesn’t have a permanent place in the side but I think he has done very well against England and batted very well here too. Quite frankly he is a quality cricketer so cut the speculation,” Woolmer said.Inevitably, on a day dominated by talk of the gloomy weather and the blandness in the pitch, Woolmer also expressed his frustration at the lack of play today. “Obviously it is frustrating when you get weather like this but nobody can do anything about it. We have to just put up with it. If the forecast is the same as before, as I have heard, then this Test is likely to be a draw.”The weather, Woolmer said, also played a part in the pitch turning out as it did. “Considering the weather conditions you don’t know what to get. We’ve had cold and wet weather leading up to the match and that must have hampered the preparations of the pitch. I think we can all see that it is a perfect batting wicket. You need a hot sun to make it turn a bit on the last day and we haven’t got that.”But he insisted that the groundsman wasn’t to blame. “Every cricket team has to put up with the surface that you are given so you can’t ask for much more when the groundsman hasn’t had an opportunity to prepare a different pitch. I’m not going to blame anyone for it but I hope the Faisalabad pitch has a little bit more life than this one. My view on pitches is straightforward. I don’t deal with the groundsman, I give my view to those who do. Test pitches should give both batsmen and bowlers a chance. We had three very good pitches for the series against England and I believe good pitches produce good cricket.”On India’s openers, Woolmer expressed surprise at Rahul Dravid’s decision to come out first – “he is a very good player and has all the attributes for an opening batsman so it was a good move” – and less so at Virender Sehwag’s blazing, undefeated 96. “I have always rated Sehwag. We’ve studied lots of ways of bowling at him and certain bowlers tend to get him out quite easily. Ntini seems to have the wood on him.” Sehwag averaged 98.2 against Pakistan before this series and has hit three hundreds against them, including one triple and one double. “He plays well against Pakistan; certain cricketers like playing against certain teams.”Woolmer also ruled out concerns about Shoaib Akhtar’s left ankle. Shoaib was seen receiving treatment and heavy strapping on TV during the day and the ankle had also bothered him during the last Test against England last month. Woolmer said the impact on the left ankle when Shoaib landed on the pitch in his delivery stride was tremendous. “When Shoaib lands on the turf there is a tremendous force. If the footholes are concave then he will catch it every now and again. But there is no real problem there, he can play.”