Woolmer fears England backlash in Lahore Test
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Pakistan’s Coach Bob Woolmer has cautioned his players to be wary of an England backlash in the third and final test in Lahore next week.
Woolmer said England’s players were becoming increasingly acclimatised to the conditions in Pakistan.
“They batted well to win the Ashes at home,” Woolmer told newsmen. “They have some dangerous players. But in a sense they were undercooked when they came to Pakistan and they got seaming wickets in the tour matches”.
“But with two tests gone now I think they will have acclimatised and they will be harder to beat,” he added.
England trail in the series after losing the first test in Multan by 22 runs and hanging on for a draw in the second test in Faisalabad.
“We can’t sit on our 1-0 lead and we have to play really good cricket to put them under pressure,” Woolmer said.
“It was a tight test in Faisalabad and we did our best to win it. We came out of it particularly well. But our goal is to win the series as we haven’t won a test series for two years now,” Woolmer added.
“And to do that we have to avoid playing with a negative mindset. That would be dangerous for us”.
Pakistan’s last home series win was against South Africa in Oct 2003, while the last time they won any test series was in December the same year in New Zealand.
Woolmer said Pakistan would have to go into the match with a slightly different approach after the loss of all rounder Shahid Afridi to a ban for scuffing the pitch in Faisalabad with his boots.
“Shahid is a very, very good player and his absence is a big blow to us,” he said. “In the sense that we now have to find a new balance in the side”.