Amir eases fitness fears for Lord's Test

Mohammad Amir appeared to prove his fitness as Pakistan drew their final warm-up match ahead of the start of their two-Test series against England.

A two-day game against Leicestershire was always likely to end in a draw and that was the case as the Midlands county finished on 6-226 in reply to Pakistan's first innings 9-321 declared.

Amir was one of several first-choice players rested from this match ahead of the first Test at Lord's starting Thursday after suffering a recurrence of a longstanding knee problem during Pakistan's preceding five-wicket victory over Test debutants Ireland in Dublin last week.

The left-arm quick did however bowl at a lively pace on the side of the square during the lunch break and is understood not to have suffered any adverse reaction.

In Amir's absence, Pakistan still had several frontline bowlers playing against Leicestershire, who kept the tourists at bay thanks to a fifty from Ateeq Javid.

That Pakistan failed to dismiss Leicestershire, a Second Division county, may be regarded as disappointing but tour fixtures are a notoriously unreliable guide to how a team will perform in Test matches.

On the first day of the match, Pakistan openers Azhar Ali and Fakhar Zaman both made fifties as they shared a century stand at Grace Road.

Azhar finished with 73 and Fakhar 71 as the openers shared a stand of 121 in an innings where Usman Salahuddin made 69.

Azhar's innings was especially encouraging after he twice fell cheaply, for four and two, against Ireland.

The 33-year-old Azhar, whose 63 Tests have yielded 14 centuries, appears inked in to open against England alongside the in-form Imam-ul-Haq, who was rested from the Leicestershire game.

Fakhar, whose blazing century helped Pakistan to that Champions Trophy victory, has yet to make his Test debut.

It is only two years ago since Pakistan, albeit with now retired batsmen Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan in the side, drew a four-Test series in England 2-2.

They also upset the odds to beat arch-rivals India in the final of last year's Champions Trophy one-day tournament at The Oval in London.

That 2016 series also saw the now injured Yasir Shah play a key role and the performance of the leg-spinner's teenage replacement Shadab Khan could now have an important bearing on this year's shortened campaign.

Pakistan look likely to stick with the same side that beat Ireland for the first Test against England, who failed to win a single one out of seven Tests during their recent tours of Australia and New Zealand.

The hosts have recalled talented ball-striker Jos Buttler to a reshaped batting line-up, with captain Joe Root making a long-awaited move up the order to No.3.