Do I feel bad for him or what? Golden duck against Fernando and did not bowl a single ball. Poor chap. Rehman, another left arm spinner, had reasonable figures today, as did Hafeez. When Asif was being spanked all across the park, why did Malik not bowl Fawad Alam?

I had a feeling his debut wouldn’t be that far off, especially since Razzaq didn’t do anything useful in the 2nd game. By having won the series already, Pakistan could afford 2 debuts this morning. I have no clue about Fawad Alam, but from what I read on Ahmer’s blog and in the news, he seems like he might be pretty cool.

However, in terms of utility players, unless and until Afridi, Razzaq, Hafeez retire, Fawad is still some ways off. Sadly he had his chance to bat and to prove himself, but a surprise full toss did him in on the first ball he faced.

Does this mean his time is up? I doubt it.

I think he’ll be back, but I don’t think he’s ready for a permanent place in the playing XI just yet. I have no clue how he bowls, and he seems to be bringing the same thing to the table as the other allrounders on our squad. Sadly, there is no denying that a fighting debut 50 from him today might have made his place on Pakistan’s next 15 member squad a certainty. Too bad for him.

Oop. You know it’s bad when you start typing an entry and you’ve already used it before. Well, it did save me a few characters typing when the autocomplete thingy did it for me. But yes, Vaughan, bless him, has injured himself again. This time it’s his finger after copping one on the hand from Stuart Clark in the County Champs match against Hampshire. He’s set to be out for up to a month, which would mean missing at least the first test against the West Indies.

One wonders if this is a blessing in disguise. Well, not necessarily even in disguise – just a flat-out blessing. New coach Peter Moores has already said he would play Vaughan in the tests as captain but this latest (in a long line) injury has forced a much needed change in the England line up. Andrew Strauss looks destined to get another chance as skipper with Paul Collingwood his deputy. Vaughan should get fit and play county cricket and not automatically earn a place in the side. Get him scoring runs consistently and then have him back in the side. Not before.