Date-stamped : 01 Nov95 - 22:30
Tour Match: Pakistan Cricket Board XI v England 'A'
Defence Ground, Karachi, 1 November 1995

White cracks thumb in battling last-ball victory - Paul Newman

CRAIG WHITE, the all-rounder still trying to repay the faith  Ray
Illingworth clearly has in him, was the one England A player with
little to celebrate last night after their tour began here with a
last-ball victory over a Pakistan Cricket Board XI.

Things were going perfectly for White when he took three wickets,
including two in successive balls, as the PCB XI struggled to 191
for nine from their 50 overs at Karachi`s Defence Ground, a  late
alternative venue when it was deemed that the original stadium in
the central district of the city represented a security risk.

Political unrest in Karachi, culminating  in  a  two-day  general
strike  this week, has had little effect on England, whose smooth
preparation in the opening days of the tour was only  interrupted
in  the  penultimate  over of the innings of a PCB side including
four Test players and led by former Pakistan  vice-captain   Asif
Mujtaba.

It was then that White fractured his right thumb while dropping a
catch  off the bowling of Ed Giddins who, in tandem with the out-
standing Dean Headley, gave England some bite on  a wicket   that
was  watered  in  readiness for Sunday`s four-day game before the
switch of stadiums left it with some early life.

An X-ray indicated a hairline fracture  for  White,  who  had  to
leave  the Ashes tour prematurely last winter with an intercostal
problem. He will have a further scan on Sunday  and the   initial
diagnosis is that he will be sidelined for only 10 days.

His inability to bat earned Keith Piper promotion to No 6 and  it
was  his  coolness, with that of Jason Pooley, which enabled Eng-
land to scamper six runs off the final over,  Piper hitting   the
single needed off the final ball to mid-on.

England should not have left it so late after the platform  built
for  them by Nick Knight and captain Nasser Hussain. The pair put
on 112 for the second wicket with Knight`s 78  taking 128   balls
and Hussain batting fluently for his 60 in 98 deliveries.

Hussain`s innings was greeted warmly by the small crowd who  have
welcomed  him  as  one  of their own.  Shouts of "Shabash Nasser"
(loosely translated as `well done, keep it  up`) followed   every
shot.  "He  is a hero here," said the PCB scorer, "because of his
name."

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)
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