133-3 - It must be said that Pakistan have been uncahracteristically sharp in the filed, Fawad Alam dives across at point to prevent runs. Interesting thought from Nas Hussain, he reckons a good time for England to take their powerplay will be after 34 overs when the ball gets changed and there is less reverse swing available. Scoring now sure is tough, with the flood lights at Lord's just starting to take effect. Akhtar is on the money and concedes just one with Paul Collingwood looking nervous.
132-3 - The rate is heading up to six an over but Bell is looking comfortable already and he and Collingwood knock it around for single with long on a hot spot for that. Afridi is boldly sticking with a slip and is too good for Bell with his final ball of the over. Pakistan at this stage were 115 for three.
127-3 - Afridi is really up for this game and is buzzing at the moment. OUT! Akhtar is finding a touch of reverse swing but doesn't need it there, Strauss toes a long hop straight to point! That's a huge breakthrough, a key moment in the match possibly. Pakistan are jubilant and now have two new England batsmen at the crease. Just the man for the job, Paul Collingwood walks in. He has been out of touch recently though and misses a beauty from Akhtar first up. Pakistan are looking dangerous with Umar Gul to come and the ball reversing, Nasser Hussain reckons the visitors are strong favourites from here.
126-2 - mid on is up, so no single available there. Trott's beaten by the pace of Afridi and rapped on the pad. OUT! It had been coming with the England number three struggling, he's pushed forwad defensively, got bat and pad before the ball rolled back onto his stumps. 4 from 16 for Trott leaves his side worse condition than when he entered. Ian Bell is in at four and survives a confident appeal from his first delivery. He'll be in a positive frame of mind after his hundred at Lord's in the Clydesdale Bank final over the weekend. Just one from the over and the wicket and Pakistan have their tails up now.
125-1 - Akhtar is zeroing in on Trott's pads, full and straight, searching for some reverse swing with just a hint available. Trott is being bogged down, pegging back the rate which can't go on too long for England. At the comparative stage Pakistan were 99 for 3. The pressure is telling on Trott too who is forced into a frantic single to avoid the maiden over. The England run rate has just dipped under the rate required.
124-1 - Strauss uses the angle and the spin of Afridi efectively to pick runs out into the leg-side, Trott meanwhile is looking down the ground. A single for him takes him to 1000 international runs for the Summer, a top effort which has pretty much assured himself an Ashes starting spot.
120-1 - Afridi has brought back Akhtar hoping to strike. It was a very expensive first spell for the Rawalpindi Express, but he bowled Trott with a pearler on Friday and will be confident of getting Trott again. The England number three played at here at Lord's on Saturday in the Clydsdale Bank 40 final and scored 17 at the top of the order, but he's looking rather out of sorts on the Lord's pitch at present, battling through four dot balls from Akhtar.
117-1 - Jonathan Trott is the new man which always makes commentary more comfortable what with the long pauses between deliveries. Afridi is going around the wicket to Strauss and over the wicket to Trott and the right-hander escapes a loud lbw appeal after backing back onto his stumps. It's hitting the top of leg stump says Hawk Eye but too much doubt says Billy Doctrove.
113-1 - Beaten! Strauss' luck is plentiful, he's spooned it up into the off side, deceived by Ajmal but it lands safely. OUT! No luck for Davies thought, one short of his fifty he's chopped back onto his stumps and Pakistan have a small glimmer of hope.
107-0 - Afridi from around the stumps is causing Davies trouble, drawing him forward and with the left-hander playing and missing, Kamran Akmal whips of the bails and a confident appeal gets the third umpire involved. Akmal is too quick however, as Davies drags his foot over the crease only after the stumps were broken. The third umpire is called on again with Strauss this time making his ground comfortably. Good over the Pakistan captain.
106-0 - Davies continues to back away and try to hit Hafeez with the turn through the off side, he's having little success with just single on offer.
103-0 - A couple of single bring the 100 up and a hand shake between Davies and Strauss who are enjoying each others company at the top of the order it would appear. Afridi is on now and Strauss cuts away to the off side sweeper for another run and it's drinks, with England coasting along comfortably.
98-0 - A couple of nudges around the ground, and then a cut shot pulled away handsomely for four by Andrew Strauss, that his fifty and it's come off exactly 50 balls. He's had a touch of luck, but deserved it for playing aggressively with the right attitude. The England captain is in fine form and once again important he carries on.
90-0 - Another tight over from Ajmal concedes just three but England are still going well and will not be nearly panicking at this stage.
87-0 - Hafeez is bowling well here and is unlucky again with another lbw appeal turned down, more doubt in that one though with some bat involved just after the pad. It pitched outside leg stump so a good decision. Umpire Kettleborough has a confusing habit of noddin when he gives a not out decision. Davies is backing away and leaving his stumps exposed dangerously against the off-spinner but can't find the gaps despite the risks.
85-0 - So now Ajmal gets his chance and he's afforded a first slip, but the England pair are cautious and choose to nudge around for ones. Ajmal has been the pick of Pakistan's bowlers in this series and there's no reason to take too many risks against him in this situation.
81-0 - The surface is dry and should aid the turn of Hafeez, just strange that he should get on before key man Saeed Ajmal. Davies is decieved by the lack of pace but then makes a clean connection to find one to long on. A huge lbw appeals follows agains the England captain, pitching in line, hitting in line and again Strauss can count himself extremely fortunate, that was as straight as they come with a hint of turn on offer.
78-0 - Gul continues and so does the free scoring for England either side of a rare play and miss from Strauss. Just ones and twos available though, only the third over of the innings so far not to feature a boundary.
73-0 - It's just fractionally short and Strauss helps it on its way with a classy pull shot! He goes again, but this time it's slightly fuller and gets squeezed to the fine leg area for two more. Pakistan have fielded well so far but a missed direct hit to a sneaky single sees Strauss survive. It has not been fantastic bowling from Pakistan with far too many free deliveries. Davies tucks one away before manaufacturing another boundary by backing way. All going swimmingly for England at this stage.
58-0 - Gul to Davies and four! A long hop allows the England keeper a free-bee which pulls away comfortably. Another short delivery gets a full blooded backfoot drive, left-handers will hit through there all day, four more!
50-0 - Davies is yet to get comfortable but finds to and then a single with Mohammad Yousuf given an ironic cheer as he fields. Davies doesn't need to do anything fancy with his skipper going well, and Strauss picks off another boundary from a leg-side delivery from the Pakistan allrounder.
43-0 - Umar Gul comes into the attack, full on confidence. He bowls a heavy ball and catches Strauss in the ribs, the two eye each other out with plenty of tension in the air, and then break into smiles which is great to see. Out! No wait, it's a no ball! Strauss gets caught behind off a thick edge but Gul has overstepped and and Afridi has to cut short his celebrations. Nevertheless a top first over from Gul which will have just pegged back Strauss' confidence a touch.
41-0 - Strauss is hitting the ball hard and showing plenty of aggression. He backs away and swats hard straight down the ground to fetch four more. Surprisingly though he misses out on a long hop hitting to point on the bounce but England are off to a superb start thanks to their skipper.
36-0 - Shahid Afridi gives two to Andrew Strauss where there was none, shying at the stumps for overthrows after a decent stop at cover. For a really talented cricketer he really can do silly things at times. A genuine edge flies off the last ball of the over to give the England captain four more. There should be a slip in for that but there's not and so Strauss survives with four bonus runs. Akhtar has gone for 30 off three overs meanwhile, slightly unlucky and slightly inconsistent.
27-0 - big swoosh from Davies, haiving backed away, shows his intent, but he is yet to middle the ball as well as Strauss has in the opening couple of overs. The young left-hander is battling as he plays and misses again before being hit on the pad, he is looking vulnerable at the moment.
26-0 - Four! Strauss hits a loose delivery for the third boundary of his knock. The England captain is being ruthless with anything even a touch off the mark. Akhtar's response is to run through without delivering, maybe gamesmanship but probably more a matter of rhythm on his run up, before producing a jaffer which jags across Strauss and past the outside edge. Fantastic delivery. It's just not consistent enough from the Rawalpindi Express however, straying onto Davies' pads to be tucked away for four before the England yougster has some luck, edging past his stumps and down for four more.
13-0 - Abdul Razzaq ended with the bat and he'll start with the ball, but not a great start, straying down the leg side with a wide and then allowing Davies to get off the mark with a boundary whipped off the hips behind square. The allrounder finds his spot and there are no more runs from the over. A pretty even start to the innings so far, as Kevin Pietersen watches on from the crowd.
8-0 - Shoaib Akhtar starts from around the wicket to the left-handed Strauss with one slip in place but he's got it wrong first up and the England captain loves it there, short and with width it's flashed to the fence past point. This'll be an exciting chase with Pakistan with their tails up. After the first delivery Akhtar finds his range and a bit of movement as well to square Strauss up. More width follows though and the skipper pounces, driving off the back foot for four more!
We've got a game on our hands. Pakistan looked to have delayed the powerplay unnecessarily but Razzaq went mental in the last two overs, taking them for 42. Pakistan were looking for 250 at the start of the innings, and with turn and reverse swing expected to play a part, they must be slight favourites here.
265-7 - So Bresnan to bowl the last over, and Gul does the sensible thing in patting the ball into a gap for a single. That gives Razzaq strike, and as Bresnan just misses his yorker, he thumps a low full toss through cover for four. Bresnan responds by dropping short, but again Razzaq clears the front leg and this time lifts it over extra cover and nearly gets six as the ball bounces just short of the boundary. He gets a bit fortunate next up, top-edging over short third man, but then he does well in hitting a full toss back over Bresnan's head. Naturally, the final delivery is driven for a fifth successive four, this time over mid-off. Bresnan was all over the place in that over, and simply had no answer to Razzaq.
244-7 - Anderson bowled the slower ball a lot in his last over, so Razzaq is waiting for it now. He gives himself room to clear the infield for back-to-back boundaries, and then, when Anderson inexplicably bowls another slower one, humps it over cow corner for an enormous six! Anderson bowls a quicker one, but it's full and Razzaq drives along the ground through a gap for four more, before Anderson is spared another boundary by some sharp fielding at extra cover. Twenty-one from the over.
223-7 - Gul pulls a short ball to square leg for a single, and then Broad raps Razzaq on the pad and the ball deflects to midwicket. It was always going down the leg side, and Broad's appeal doesn't achieve it's goal, which was to distract Razzaq and prevent him taking two. A single gives Gul strike, and he scampers through for a leg-bye. Broad is fortunate that Yardy is backing up as he hoofs the ball at the stumps and misses - could have been four overkicks?
218-7 - Good over from Anderson, who uses the slower ball to good effect and only concedes singles. Umar Gul takes one from the final over, so he keeps the strike.
214-7 - WICKET! England pulling this back very nicely indeed now. Of course the batting powerplay is underway now, and Akmal comes down the wicket, takes on a short ball which really climbs on him, and gets a top edge which is easily taken by Davies. His desperation to play the hook shot got him in trouble there. A legside wide aside Broad puts in a good over, and Pakistan need to finish well here to get the 250 that most seem to consider a good total on this dry pitch.
210-6 - WICKET! It's a little churlish to criticise Afridi because, as we all know, this is how he plays. But he's delayed the powerplay unnecessarily and is out caught in the deep before Pakistan take it. Had the fielding restrictions been active here, Afridi would have got away with a slog to leg, which went high in the air for Strauss to catch at wide midwicket. Anyway Abdul Razzaq is Afridi's replacement, and he too can clear the ropes.
208-5 - Still no powerplay, which is a bit strange. Broad starts with a looping wide over Afridi, and then a couple of singles are followed by two to wide long-on. Afridi's got that look about him today - that manic intensity that says he's going after everything. So far it's come off, though this is a quieter over.
201-5 - Akmal is quite keen on the off side, and he gives himself room to target it. First he nearly gets an edge onto his stumps, but then he cuts away through backward point for four. He struggles to get Anderson away thereafter as Anderson tightens up his line, and Afridi keeps chatting to his partner mostly because he's itching to get on strike. Eventually Akmal has a heave to leg, skies the ball to deep midwicket, and is fortunate when Trott's misjudgement leads to him dropping it as he dives forward. If Akmal had gone out there then Afridi would have been to blame for putting unnecessary pressure on his teammate I reckon.
195-5 - Musical bowlers from England at the moment, as Bresnan replaces Broad. He's rather better at changing his pace than Broad, and that works well for him as Akmal battles to get bat on ball. However the singles are eventually forthcoming, and then Afridi picks the slower bouncer, effectively a long hop then, and swipes it over square leg for six. Just cleared the ropes.
186-5 - Anderson returns, and immediately raps Afridi on the glove with a lifting delivery. The Pakistan skipper needs a moment with the physio, who's presumably sorted out the MCC member who fell victim to Afridi a few overs ago, but is then good to go. He opens the face to guide one past the keeper for a couple, but misses the final delivery. Good time to take the powerplay I reckon, now that Pakistan have two attacking batsmen settled.
182-5 - When Afridi's in this mood it's never dull. First he has to get on strike though, and as Umar Akmal dabs the ball down and Afridi calls him through for a quick single, the ball rolls back and just touches the stumps without dislodging a bail. Collingwood runs in from point and tries to kick the ball onto the stumps. He stands on the ball and nearly lands with one of his precious parts on the wickets. Anyway, Afridi on strike then, and he edges past a diving Davies for four, then takes on the short ball and pulls it to wide midwicket. It's on.
172-5 - One of the MCC members was injured by that six, and has blood running from the top of his nose. He's taken it well though, and poses calmly as his mate takes a picture. In fact, they've just showed the replay - he was on the second tier, looked to go for the catch I think and wore it full in the face! The Pakistan physio is there now attending to him, but he still has a boysih grin on his face. He'll be alright. Meanwhile Afridi continues his brisk start by scooping four to fine leg.
165-5 - WICKET! The drinks break does the trick, as does the slider, as Swann picks up his fourth. Alam was playing for turn as he looked to cut away on the off side, but it went straight on to knock back middle stump. That brings Shahid Afridi to the crease at a fairly opportune time for Pakistan - Swann is in his last over and there's a batting powerplay to come. If he can take advantage of those two facts then Pakistan should have a winning total. Of course there's time for him to get his eye in, but the blood is flowing and he runs down the track to smash Swann's final delivery back over his head for a huge six!
155-4 - The nudging continues from Alam and Akmal. Somewhere in between Alam gets a faint nick after going for a big shot, but it misses stumps and keeper. It was never a chance though. It's time for drinks.
151-4 - Looks like Swann will bowl out as he continues with his ninth over. Pakistan's 150 comes on the board with another cut shot from Alam. Swann bowls another beauty as Alam plays and misses a quicker one.
149-4 - The mandatory ball change has taken place and we will have another bowling change, but it won't be the quicks. It's Paul Collingwood with his cutters. Yardy has bowled seven so Colly will probably bowl a maximum of three unless he does something spectacular. Ooh! He goes past the outside edge a couple of times as Akmal looks to cut. He follows two good balls up with a poor one down the leg side and Akmal gets pad to it.
145-4 - This is the final over with the 'old' ball so Broad and Anderson will probably get a go again soon. Swann only have two overs left after this one. Alam and Akmal milk a couple of singles.
142-4 - Alam hits it through the covers and then an overthrow gives him an extra run. He then runs it to third man and Akmal does likewise. Some words between Umar Akmal and Bresnan and Strauss steps in immediately.
138-4- Alam isn't the best of runners between the wickets as he continues to take a few steps down the track before getting sent back. He gets to the other end with one to deep backward point. Swann changes the angle to the right-hander. WICKET! No wonder Afridi was so animated earlier as Hafeez was starting to lose focus. He once again dances down the track, but this time he gets a top edge and goes high. The man at short third gets under it and takes it comfortably. Good innings, but that's a rather tame end to it. Umar Akmal is the new batsman and Swann starts with a wide to him.
136-3 - It's time for pace again as Tim Bresnan comes back into the attack. England only have the five front-line bowlers plus Paul Collingwood. There's no Luke Wright or Ravi Bopara to throw the ball to today. Alam and Hafeez rotate the strike nicely. The former pulls off a nice pull shot, but it's long the ground to the man.
132-3 - Afridi was a little animated at the end of the previous over following that big shot from Hafeez. Not sure what he wants from the batsman as it was a good shot. Alam is still not comfortable out in the middle and he first plays and misses and then wants to take a single that's not there. He finally gets off strike with one to cover.
130-3 - Yardy continues despite his poor sixth over. A nice little partnership is developing here, but it's important that Hafeez goes the distance for Pakistan. The duo rotate the strike nicely before Hafeez again ends the over with a boundary. He dances down the track and goes over extra cover for the one-bounce four.
123-3 - Hafeez is one short of his half-century and he takes only one more ball to go to the milestone as a cut shot brings him a couple. His 50 came off 86b, 1x6, 3x4. It's his fifth half-ton and he is yet to get to three figures. Getting confident now as he sweeps it down to the backward square leg boundary for four.
115-3 - Alam backs away to another shorter one and this time he gets four through extra cover. Next he opens the face of the bat and gets a thick edge wide of the keeper for three. He will feel a lot better now. Productive over for Pakistan. Strauss might be thinking about a change in bowling from this end as they are just picking off Yardy.
105-3 - The runs have really dried up since Swann was introduced into the attack. Yardy didn't make the best of starts to his spell, but he has also come back very well. Hafeez goes on the sweep against Swann. Alam is struggling to time the ball at the moment. He eventually makes good contact and gets three through extra cover.
101-3 - It's very quiet out in the middle, both teams are probably a little tense following events over the past few days. Pakistan's century comes up as they take a couple of singles to the leg-side.
99-3 - A lot will depend on Hafeez - who has moved into the 40s without much fuss. He continues to do well as he rotates the strike with Alam.
96-3 - It's rebuilding time for Pakistan. Hafeez takes one to extra cover. Strauss decides to put extra pressure on the new man by bringing the field in. Alam keeps the strike after managing to find a gap in the covers.
94-3 - Hafeez turns the ball to square leg and Yousuf runs the first one hard. He goes a few metres up the track but gets rightly sent back. There was never two in there. WICKET! Mr ICC Nominee strikes again and this time the slider brings him the big wicket of Yousuf. The veteran was looking to turn it to third man, but he gets a faint nick to the keeper. Pakistan's hero with the bat at The Oval Fawad Alam is the new batsman in. He plays and misses at the first one he faces.
93-2 - Yousuf drives to the left of long-off, but it's only one. Yousuf hasn't been too productive in this series. His only 'good' score was 40 odd in the second game. A misfield from Graeme 'ICC Cricketer of the Year Nominee' Swann at fine leg gives Hafeez a couple.
87-2 - It's spin from both ends as Graeme Swann - he who is on the short-list for the top ICC award - comes into the attack. Can he get another wicket in his over? Hafeez takes one to midwicket. WICKET! The answer to the earlier question is yes. Tossed up from Swann and Shafiq goes for a booming cover drive, but he misses the ball and it crashes into his stumps. The gap between bat and pad was massive there. Mohammad Yousuf joins Hafeez in the middle. He's away immediately with one through midwicket.
85-1 - Shafiq backs away to cut through cover. There is protection on the boundary so it's just a single. His partner goes through extra cover and there's a long chase for Bresnan - who is coming around from the long-off. He does well to keep it down to two. A leg-sided ball is tickled fine and it runs away for four.
77-1 - Strauss sticks with pace from this end as Broad continues. Hafeez clips it to fine leg for one. Shadiq also works it to the leg-side boundary a couple of times and he gets a couple and a single. The bouncer got the wicket of Akmal, but the England quicks haven't bowled a lot of shorter ones since that wicket. It's time for a drink.
73-1 - We will have some spin now as Michael Yardy takes over from James Anderson. Hafeez and Shadiq immediately look a little more comfortable against the slower pace and take a couple of singles. Dropped! Hafeez gets a little too confident and he goes for a big booming drive. It goes to Yardy's left and he dives across, but he can't hold on.
69-1 - The first two Powerplays (the compulsory opening 10 and the bowling one) are out of the way so out come the slips. Hafeez mistimes his pull and it rolls along the ground to midwicket. Strauss decides to keep the slip in for the new man Shafiq. It's a good decision from the England skipper as first he fishes at one and then steers it down to third man for a single.
67-1 - Another big shout from Anderson as Hafeez is caught on his crease but umpire Kettleborough makes another good decision, as with in the previous over it was high and going past leg. Anderson follows it up with a beauty, squaring Hafeez up. Shafiq tickles the ball off his pad, it's really fine and while three men converge on it none can cut it off before the fence.
62-1 - Hafeez rotates the strike nicely, something he hasn't always been doing, sneaking a quick single to mid on. Wicket! Bounce was always going to be Broad's biggest weapon and it gets the breakthrough for him as Akmal goes on the pull but can't get on top of it, skying the ball to Strauss at square leg. Asad Shafiq is the new man.
61-0 - Akmal turns the ball to the left of fine leg and wants two but his partner isn't interesting. Huge shout from Anderson as Hafeez looks to turn the ball to leg, the bowler is convinced and umpire Kettleborough considers it for an age before saying 'not out'. Hafeez strikes out and gets the reward, lofting the ball over extra cover for four.
55-0 - Four more! This time to Akmal as he opens the face of the bat and guides the ball wide of backward point.
50-0 - A change of ends for Anderson, he's bowling his second spell from the Nursery End. On the pads but Hafeez can't get it away, the ball rattles off his pads and into the wide open spaces on the leg side and the pick up a leg bye. One more to Akmal as he angles the ball to third man. The Pakistan fifty comes up in style as Hafeez brilliantly carves the ball through point for four.
44-0 - Poor delivery but high quality batting as Broad bowls a full delivery on his toes and Hafeez picks it up and clips it over backward square leg for six. Again leg side and both the bowler and batsman get lucky; Hafeez picks out the man but he nearly did so on the full too. The final powerplay over ends with Hafeez clipping the ball wide of mid on for three.
35-0 - It's been a fairly sedate start from Pakistan thus far, but there was nothing sedate about that shot! Akmal does really well, coming across his stumps slightly, down the pitch and flicking the ball over wide long on for six.
28-0 - A change of bowling with Stuart Broad entering the attack, his bounce could pose some problems. Akmal has no trouble first up, dabbing the ball to third man for a single. Hafeez also finds a single to third man, but it's a lot less convincing as a thick edge is found. A big lbw appeal to end the over, but it was going over as Akmal played forward. Umpire Doctorve has a little word with Broad, just asking him to be careful about running on the pitch.
25-0 - Despite having a strong off-side field, Bresnan continues to stray onto leg, handing the batsmen fairly easy scoring opportunities. Hafeez looks really shaky when the ball is pitched in the 'corridor of uncertainty', the England bowlers just need to keep it there and they should have some success.
23-0 - Anderson seems to have Hafeez's number at the moment as the right-hander wafts at one outside off. Hafeez does well to use a bit of bounce to his advantage, getting the ball down to third man for one. Irritating for Anderson as he lures Akmal into getting an edge, it drops short of Swann at second slip and the spinner makes a poor effort of fielding it, letting the ball through his fingers and down to the fence.
18-0 - Bresnan strays onto the pads and is punished as Akmal flicks the ball off his pads and beats Anderson at fine leg. Again on leg from Bresnan and again Akmal takes advantage. Akmal didn't quite get hold of it but got enough to take it to the square leg fence. Ooh, a leading edge from Akmal as he looks to turn the ball to leg, it's over the head of Bresnan and well short of mid off.
10-0 - David Lloyd continues on from his pitch report stating that this is a 220, 225 pitch. It certainly looks really dry. Absolute beauty from Anderson to end the over, beating Hafeez all ends up as he pushes forward!
8-0 - The first aggressive shot of the day gets Hafeez four as he's into position quickly and pulls Bresnan to the midwicket fence. Movement from Bresnan this time and again Hafeez is beaten by consecutive deliveries. Hafeez retains the strike, working the ball to fine leg for a single to end the over.
3-0 - Ooh, some movement away from the bat straight away from Anderson and then he brings the next one back into the batsman, clever bowling. Hafeez gets off the mark, nudging the ball down to Bresnan at fine leg.
2-0 - Kamran Akmal gets the scoreboard ticking over with a flick into the leg side for a single. Hafeez is walloped on the pad and trots through for the run as the ball dribbles into the leg side. A solid start from Bresnan.
At last it's time for on-field matters. Tim Bresnan will lead the England attack and it will be Kamran Akmal to face first.
Jamie Wilson writes in echoing the frustrations of many England fans: I really cant see the point in this fixture. All its will do is detract our concentration from the ashes which is a much more important and respected series.
David Lloyd reckons that this wicket is going to spin and that there should be some reverse swing about. Should be interesting stuff.
With all this controversy going on I'm sure you've got lots to say, mail me at: julia.harris@teamtalkmedia.co.za and let me know what your thoughts are on the current saga over-shadowing the sport.
Reports are now indicating that there was some kind of altercation between Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz in the nets prior to the toss. It seems the toss was nearly delayed, the players really aren't happy. Mike Atherton reports that the incident was a bit of 'handbags', there definitely is a lot of tensions between the players.
Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi (capt), Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar
Andrew Strauss, Steve Davies, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Michael Yardy Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson
Two fairly predictable changes for England with Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara making way for Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell. Pakistan have named an unchanged side which comes as no surprise following their victory at The Oval.
Pakistan have won the toss and decided to have a bat first up.
This fixture was in doubt earlier this morning in the wake of apparent accusations by PCB chairman Ijaz Butt that England players had been involved in match-fixing. England skipper Andrew Strauss has spoken of his dismay at the allegations and rightly so, apparently the England players considered refusing to play but decided against it. Butt has attempted to clarify his comments but there is still an ugly taste in the mouth as we head to Lord's, with any luck a great game of cricket will but all the other nonsense on the back burner - for a moment at least.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the fourth ODI between England and Pakistan.