Woolmer gives Pakistan and England equal chance to win

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said Thursday that despite England's 2-0 test series loss, both teams stand an equal chance in the limited-overs series starting this weekend. "We haven't played one-day cricket for three and a half months. It's funny in sport, if you leave something and then come back to it, you have to relearn it a bit," Woolmer said.

"We start the series knowing it is 50-50 between us and England," he added. Pakistan has won its last seven one-day internationals, four against India and three against the West Indies in June.

The five-match one-day series begins in Lahore, which hosts two matches (Dec. 10 and Dec. 12). The third match will be played on Dec. 15 before the last two matches are held at Rawalpindi (Dec. 19 and Dec. 21). The Pakistan coach was not reading too much into the test series, which saw Michael Vaughan's Ashes-winning team struggle against the Inzamam-ul-Haq-led Pakistan in all the three test matches.

"I don't believe in psychological advantages," Woolmer said. "The coincidence is there because the team is winning and winning breeds confidence. "This is a new tournament and we have to put the test matches to bed briefly before India comes," he added.

Pakistan is scheduled to host India for three tests and five one-day internationals early next year. Woolmer, who was appointed Pakistan coach in June last year until the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, said his team has to have a pool of reserve players for the tournament in the Caribbean.

Pakistan played around 45 cricketers in the three test matches, two three-day games and a one-day warm-up match against England. Players like paceman Mohammad Asif, who took 10 wickets in the three-day game and Bazid Khan, who scored an unbeaten 90 in the one-day game, caught the eye of Woolmer.

"There are players not in the squad at the moment like Bazid Khan who did really well against England in the last match," he said. "There are people on the periphery who are fighting to get in and we have to recognize that those players are there. "The more experience you have on the field, the better that team will do", reports the AP. N.U.