CARDIFF: By the end of the Twenty20 international in Bristol on Monday night it was clear that Pakistan is a major one-day force and that only further injuries and bad luck can prevent it from reaching the latter stages of the ICC Trophy and the World Cup in the next frenzied eight months. In contrast it was difficult to forecast anything but disaster for England which looked every inch the side that has won only three of its last 16 one-day internationals.

Different ball game

It was also likely that if Pakistan had been at full strength in the recent Test series against England the score would not have been 3-0 to the home side and might even have been a staggering win for the visitor. I have always thought that frustration with its own performances played a part in the refusal to return to the field at the Oval and seeing the difference between this slick show and what had gone before only served to underline that opinion.

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer promised me early in its tour that the absence of Shoaib Malik was the key to poor Test results and yet although Malik had little influence on Monday Pakistan won by the huge margin — for a Twenty20 match — of five wickets with 13 balls remaining.

Key performers

There was no doubt however about the part played by Naved-ul-Hasan, whose fast medium bowling curtailed the England score, and Shoaib Akhtar. Akhtar is a much more disciplined cricketer than the wild boy of yore.

Most of all there was the beautiful fast medium bowling from Mohammad Asif who won a stack of admirers during the fourth Test. One former England captain said without prompting: "That boy can bowl a lot" the modern cricket seal of approval. Others made reference to Alec Bedser, the icon among medium pacers.

Woolmer has gathered together a unit with enormous potential and as Pakistan play fewer Tests than many sides his aim must always be on the great one-day trophies. We will see more at Cardiff on Wednesday when England pits itself against this mighty machine for the first of five one-day matches over the next two weeks. I suspect England will not include so many young players although both 20-year-old Stuart Broad and Michael Yardy, also making his debut, could be proud of their first appearance.

The absence of Steve Harmison may be a problem but in the last two years Harmison has blown hot and cold in alternate matches and one can never be sure which bowler — the destroyer or the doubting — will pull on his England shirt.

The teams (from):

England: Andrew Strauss (capt.), Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, James Dalrymple, Darren Gough, Ed Joyce, Jon Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Kevin Pietersen, Chris Read, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Yardy.

Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt.), Abdul Razzaq, Danish Kaneria, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Shahid Yousuf, Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Younis Khan.

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