James Anderson, England’s fast bowling consultant, will arrive in Pakistan to join his squad on Tuesday ahead of Day 2 in the first Test.
His belated arrival comes after he took the way many English, Welsh, and Irish sportsmen do after retirement, joining the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro-am golf event at the Old Course at St Andrews.
Former England greats Allan Lamb, Mark Nicholas, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Vaughan, and ex-footballers like Gareth Bale, Ruud Gullit, and, Jamie Redknapp have been a part of the annually-run European tour.
The visiting English side are in dire need of Anderson’s presence in the dressing room after Pakistan captain Shan Masood (151) and opener Abdullah Shafique (102) took their side to 328/4 on Day 1 at a Multan wicket, described as ‘bowlers GRAVEYARD!’ by Pietersen.
Shafique, talking about the conditions said, “Feeling happy because performing for team is next level feeling. It happens (his low scores in three consecutive Tests). It’s not an easy game. I was focussing on the process.
“When senior batter like Shan Masood is playing with you, it’s a learning moment for me as well. It’s hard here in Multan. We have done 4-5 days camp here. Cramps is part of the game, it happens. We are good now”.
England’s new-ball bowler Gus Atkinson was the pick of the bowlers, returning figures of 2/70 at stumps with spinner Jack Leach scalping the key wicket of the opposition captain.
Pakistan dominated the first two sessions by losing only one wicket while England came back strongly in the third by picking three on a day that belonged largely to the hosts.
