Pakistan vs England highlights, 1st ODI, Sep 10, 2010

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Match factsSeptember 10, 2010,

Chester-le-Street

Start time 10.15am (9.15am GMT)

Pakistan will be hoping that Mohammad Irfan's introduction to the squad will bring smiles to the players' faces in the first game of the one-day series 

Big pictureIt's September, but with five one-day internationals still to be played the end of the English summer continues to appear some distance off. This is not the finale that anyone had planned with Pakistan exhibiting the malaise and confusion it was feared they would when the spot-fixing allegations that have rocked cricket's very foundations were first brought to light.

Appearing distracted and mentally unprepared, they were easily swept away by England in the short Twenty20 series in Cardiff and the autumnal end of what has been densely-packed summer is threatening to turn into a one-sided farce. A Pakistan team that includes the likes of Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Shoaib Akhtar can never be totally written off, however, and England will still, surely, be wary of a backlash.

But the scent of scandal hanging over the team will not dissipate any time soon, and though captain Afridi has suggested that just one victory would do wonders for the team's morale it's difficult to see how they could turn things round and regain their focus sufficiently to take this series the full distance.

England probably wouldn't mind a stiffer challenge to prepare them for a winter in Australia and, despite the notable run of their success, they still have questions to be answered and flaws to be ironed out. It is England's batsmen, rather than the bowlers, that appear a touch unsettled, and there will be another shake-up as the squad switches to one-day mode and and Andrew Strauss returns to the helm.

With dwindling crowds also a concern as the summer draws in, interested parties from across the spectrum want nothing more than a competitive and absorbing contest. Whether that will be the case remains to be seen.