Giles out to prove a point

This, as had been anticipated since the draw in Lahore and probably before the tour even began, promises to be another bonanza for the spinners while the fast bowlers are left to do the footslogging.

There is turn already at the Iqbal stadium but there is substance to the pitch too that was not there in Lahore. Spinners, as much as seamers, like pace on the ball so that it snaps at the batsman like a terrier at the seat of the postman's trousers, rather than sitting up and begging like a poodle.

Once more Pakistan made their intentions clear by including three front-line spinners in Saqlain Mushtaq, Danish Kaneria and Arshad Khan, backed up by the brisk, bouncy leg-spin of Shahid Afridi, who took five England wickets in the second one-day international in Lahore a month ago.

Arshad has played before. He has taken 27 wickets in seven Tests, including five for 38 against Sri Lanka, so he is no mug.

Less is known of Kaneria, except that he is still a teenager, he has taken a shedful of wickets in the first-class domestic competition and he was clearly destined to oust Mushtaq Ahmed in this match once he was withdrawn from the Board XI which played England in Lahore last week.

As a Hindu, the second to play for Pakistan after his cousin Anil Dalpat and only the sixth non-Muslim to represent the country, he is freed from the need to observe Ramadan, as most of his team-mates will do to varying degrees. (Saqlain, one of the strictest, will reportedly have no food or liquid of any sort during daylight hours, a physically daunting prospect even in this pleasant, rather than scorching, heat).

It accounts for young Danish's hearty breakfast (no jokes about bacon, please) and, come to think of it, that of Yousuf Youhana, who despite his name is a strict Catholic who crosses himself when he reaches landmarks during an innings.

The Pakistan spinners must wait, though, for yesterday it was Ashley Giles who continued to impress with his progress.

For a number of years now Giles has tottered around the fringes of the England side, selected in squads - particularly for the one-dayers - and rarely getting a go, only to suffer injury when his chance does come along.

His only Test before this tour was against South Africa in Manchester two years ago and his one for 106 - a fortuitous wicket at that - had him marked down as another of the breed of English spinners who put too much pace on the ball and too few revs, a legacy perhaps of his early career as a fast bowler.

"That record has been a pain in the arse," he said after his bowling stint yesterday. "English spinners have received a lot of criticism but I want to be able to show we can bowl as well."

Four wickets in Lahore and three for 57 yesterday are testament to that. Giles is also thinking more like a spinner and less like a fast bowler.

He does not get ruffled and resort to the old, flat ways. Pakistan's spinners, or at least Saqlain, may be a class ahead of England's. But already Giles is commanding respect and it is some while since an England spinner could say that without blushing.