Date-stamped : 30 Aug96 - 06:38 Texaco trophy: New-look England shine in every department while Pakistan left-hander displays his batting genius By Christopher Martin-Jenkins Blade-runner Anwar seeks out the spaces THERE was little comparison between England`s performance in beating Pakistan by five wickets yesterday in the first of the three internationals for the Texaco Trophy and their abject capi- tulation in the Test match three days earlier. Little comparison, either, between the listless and dispirited performances in the World Cup, when last they played Pakistan in a one-day game, and the direction and energy of their cricket at Old Trafford. The thoughtfulness and control of their bowling, the energy and verve of their fielding and the authority of their batting took Pakistan by surprise, but for the 2-0 winners of the Test series this was a below-par performance. Their gifted batsmen failed to come to terms with an arid, mottled pitch, which was very slow but caused fewer problems than it looked as though it might. The game was decided in the early stages of each innings. Pakis- tan, choosing to bat first, took 29 overs to reach 100, England only 21. Alec Stewart`s brilliance against the new ball was the main reason for that excellent start in pursuit of 226 to win, but he found it easier against the pace of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis than he would have done against his own bowlers. Darren Gough and Alan Mullally used their heads and frequent slower balls to make the Pakistan openers do their own hard work and the others followed suit, not least Robert Croft, who bowled a tight defensive line. The touch of genius in Saeed Anwar en- abled him to find his own way of keeping the board ticking by means of quick footwork and wristy improvisations, but Aamir Sohail tried to use a broadsword when an ZpZe was required. All the others except Ijaz Ahmed, who worked the ball into gaps with deft skill, and Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is so strong that he could hit a ball of cotton wool for six, found it difficult to keep up a fast enough rate on this un- accommodating pitch. Peter Marron has been groundsman of the year more than once so the fault is surely not his, but the Old Trafford square has seldom looked so short of grass. Like Mick Hunt, his counterpart at Lord`s, he has a great deal of cricket to fit in, but Lancashire may have to do some rethinking or this will be another Test-match ground with a problem over their pitches. Once upon a time the school matches and other re- latively minor games now played on the main square would have been played on the practice ground. Now its frequent use for cars and marquees has rendered it unfit for matches. Sohail had managed only 22 runs when Saeed was caught at long-off by Mullally off Ronnie Irani, who was preferred to either Peter Martin or Adam Hollioake in England`s 13. Even without Hollioake, England were giving one-day caps for the first time to five of their XI and whatever one might feel about all the chopping and changing it is clear that David Lloyd`s skill as a manager of men has enabled all England`s newcomers this season to feel at home in the dressing room at once. In the case of his son Graham, of course, this was not so difficult, especially since his clothes were already in the Old Trafford locker. Only 82 when the first wicket fell in the 24th over, Pakistan had much ground to make up. Thanks primarily to Ijaz, who spotted that six quickly taken singles might be as effective as a series of attempted big hits, they did so, though Sohail and Wasim Akram, who promoted himself to No 4, were both bowled by Croft attempting to sweep. Inzamam`s 37 off 28 balls included four fours and did some damage to the figures of Dean Headley, who, nevertheless, bowled well enough to be entrusted wuth the difficult overs at the end of the innings. He fielded well, too, though not so obviously as Matthew Maynard and Nick Knight, who patrolled in the deep like a couple of playful dolphins. Knight batted well, too, when he and Stewart made the most of the field restrictions in the first 15 overs. Stewart`s timing was crisp as frosted snow, and Knight`s early sally down the pitch to off-drive a startled Wasim exuded confidence. So well did these two start, indeed, that they could have settled down and picked off the runs. Instead, Knight tried to run Wasim to third man and was caught behind in the 11th over. Enter Mike Atherton at No 3, with no need to hurry. He proceeded to play an ideal innings for the conditions, timing the ball well enough to hit a third of England`s 15 boundary strokes, but essentially doing no more than work the ball into gaps. Wasim was obliged to bring on his spinners early and to give them a full spell each, but Saqlain Mushtaq`s first two overs went for 16 runs before his off-breaks began to bite a little on the dead turf, and Mushtaq Ahmed, with no close fielders in front of the wicket to make the batsmen think, was neither so accurate nor so menacing as normal. Graham Thorpe played a busy little innings, Maynard a bustling one containing some handsome strokes and the one six of the day. Between them the experienced players left only the scraps for Irani and Lloyd, but they enjoyed their brief share of the limelight. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by the Management (help@cricinfo.com)