Shamed Amir is still king of the swingers
THE hair is shorter and he now sports a goatee but there was no mistaking Mohammad Amir as he returned to England with a display of high-class swing bowling so impressive it seemed as if he had never been away. There are those who believe it is wrong for Amir to be given this second chance to spearhead the Pakistan attack, after he took money to deliberately bowl no-balls in the 2010 Lord’s Test. But he will present England with a mighty challenge in the four-Test series that begins on July 14 at Lord’s if he bowls as brilliantly as he did at Taunton yesterday against Somerset. On the second day of Pakistan’s opening tour match, Amir took three wickets with deliveries that would have tested England’s finest batsmen. Marcus Trescothick could do nothing other than edge Amir’s 14th ball, one with pace and bounce that swung, through to keeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Better was the ball that took out debutant Adam Hose’s off-stump but best of all was the delivery that swung viciously into Peter Trego and detonated his middle stump. ‘He swung the ball really late, that was the biggest thing,’ said Trescothick of Amir. ‘On that evidence he will pose problems for England.’ Pakistan declared on 359 for eight after Younis Khan had completed his century. Somerset were blown away for 128, before Azhar Ali reached 50 in their second innings of 140 for four, a lead of 371. Meanwhile, Eoin Morgan has admitted England’s players would be prepared to move their tour of Bangladesh, starting on October 7, to another country following the recent terrorist attack in Dhaka that left 20 dead. ‘It is a big concern,’ said the limited-overs captain. ‘We’ve always left the big decisions to the ECB. They write reports and send guys out to see if it is safe and then come back to the players.’ Morgan is preparing to unleash Sussex fast bowler Tymal Mills on Sri Lanka’s batsmen in today’s one-off Twenty20 game at the Ageas Bowl. Middlesex opener Dawid Malan and Hampshire leftarm spinner Liam Dawson are also set to make their debuts.