Date-stamped : 05 Jul97 - 14:19 Tour Match: Pakistanis opt to take their time By Peter Deeley at Trent Bridge First day of three: Notts 298-9 v Pakistan A IF counties paid overtime, their players would be on a nice little earner in the coming games of this Pakistan A tour. The visi- tors ambled through their first day of action since ar- riving last weekend at the geriatric pace of 12.81 overs an hour. Even making allowances for their need to acclimatise, before the weather took a hand it looked as if the day would stretch un- til well after 8 pm. The tempo was set early when opening bowler Shoaib Akhtar took 11 minutes to send down his first over. There were four no-balls, two false starts and 17 runs - and then Akhtar got everything right and had Paul Pollard caught behind. Akhtar, 21, is almost a Waqar Younis clone in looks and style. One day he, too, will learn the futility of a 20-yard run-up and be- come a very good fast bowler. Even now he is sharp and on this excellent pitch - a tribute to new groundsman Steve Birks, who has produced one with good pace and bounce - and eventually finished with four for 71, making many Nottinghamshire batsmen dance around. There was much wayward bowling early on and Notts were going along at five an over by lunchtime, with Graeme Archer reaching 50 in 78 balls and going on to hit his highest first-class score of the sea- son. Then, on 81, Archer edged the medium-paced Azhar Mahmood low to Mohammad Wasim at second slip. While the fielders celebrated, Archer stood his ground, the umpires consulted and decided the ball had not carried. But in Mahmood`s next over, Archer sought to attack and got a bottom edge to give wicket-keeper Javed Qadeer one of his five catch- es in the day. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Tour Match: Tolley puts Pakistanis in a spin By Peter Deeley at Trent Bridge Second day of three: Pakistan A (71-5) trail Notts (298-9 dec) by 227 runs YOUTH had its fling but experience enjoyed the last word in the session of cricket that was possible before the rains came. Hassan Raza, now definitively all of 15 and possibly the youngest-ever Test player, faced two deliveries before Chris Tol- ley ripped out his off-stump. Tolley, 29, had replaced Nottinghamshire`s new pace discovery, Paul Franks, who yesterday failed to make any inroads into the Pak- istan batting. The tourists` openers made a comfortable start with Test bats- man Salim Elahi and Ali Navqi putting on 45. Then Mathew Dowman took out Navqi`s off-stump, and with their captain, Mohammad Wasim, trapped by Tolley going across his stumps, the Pakistan slump started. Four wickets went down for nine runs in seven overs, with Tolley taking three. Raza is one of two 15-year-olds in the visitors` party, the other being the off-spinner Shoaib Malik. But the mystery of Raza`s age when he played against Zimbabwe last year remains. The Pakistan Cricket Board now say he was "about 15". Agha Zahid, the tour manager, said he believed Raza was 14 - "but I have not brought any papers with me to show one way or the other." Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Notts v Pakistan A Notts (298-9 dec & 107-8 dec) drew with Pakistan A (150) THIS was a gruelling but profitable day for Pakistan all- rounder Azhar Mahmood. He saved his side`s follow-on by one run with an un- beaten half-century before bowling for nearly two hours to take three wickets as Nottinghamshire themselves col- lapsed, writes Peter Deeley. Mahmood, who has played nine one-day internationals, will be a key member of the touring side but the eye-catcher will be Shoaib Akhtar, whose real pace claimed six wickets in the match. The early Notts batsmen looked most uncomfortable against him. First Paul Pollard gave wicketkeeper Javed Qadeer one of nine catch- es in the game, then Tim Robinson, appearing to expect a beamer, ducked and was bowled. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)