SAJID Mahmood is desperate not to suffer double England heartbreak against Pakistan.

The Lancashire quickie missed out on playing for his country at Old Trafford earlier in the summer when he was dropped for the fourth one-day international against Sri Lanka.

Now, he is anxiously waiting to hear if he will walk out on his home ground wearing the three lions for the second Test against Pakistan - the country where his parents were born.

With Liam Plunkett ruled out of the next two Tests with a side strain, Mahmood is battling with Jon Lewis for the Durham man's place. Jamie Dalrymple has been released from the squad.

The expected firm pitch at Old Trafford will be ideal for Mahmood's lightning pace which should put him ahead of Lewis.

Mahmood, who is the cousin of Olympic boxing silver medal winner Amir Khan, has been bombarded with requests from his family for tickets.

Loyalties

Some members of the family may even have divided loyalties having traditionally followed Pakistan before his breakthrough into the England ranks.

He claimed: éItés a little bit weird because my parents are from Pakistan, but Iéve told them theyéve got to support England or they wonét be getting a ticket!

éIt will be good to play against Pakistan and do well against them. When I was really young, about eight or nine, I used to support Pakistan because I was brought up like that.

éMy family would say to me that because we came from Pakistan I had to support Pakistan, that was the way I was brought up.

éBut from the age of around 13 or 14 I watched England play and I wanted to be on that stage and play for England and ever since then Iéve supported England.

éIt would be good if I got a chance to play for England in front of the family.

éIém relishing the chance to play at Old Trafford for England,é added the Bolton-born paceman, who took 3-50 in the first innings of his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Lordés earlier in the summer.

éI had a quick look at the wicket on Monday and it looks hard, and full of pace and bounce. It is also known to reverse swing at Old Trafford, which suits me.

éI was disappointed not to play in the one-dayer on my home ground, but I understood the decision.é

Teams for the second npower Test between England and Pakistan, which starts at Old Trafford:

England (from): AJ Strauss (Middlesex, capt), ME Trescothick (Somerset), AN Cook (Essex), KP Pietersen (Hampshire), PD Collingwood (Durham), IR Bell (Warwickshire), GO Jones (Kent, wkt), MJ Hoggard (Yorkshire), SI Mahmood (Lancashire), MS Panesar (Northamptonshire), J Lewis (Gloucestershire), SJ Harmison (Durham).

Pakistan (from): Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal (wkt), Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal.
Umpires: SJA Taufel (Aus) & SA Bucknor (WI).
Third Umpire: IJ Gould.
Match Referee: RS Madugalle (SL).

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