Cricket-Yasir's goals for England: torment with googly, resist with ton

Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah plans to torment England with the googly and fancies a century against them with the bat in the three-test series in August, the 34-year-old has said.

Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah plans to torment England with the googly and fancies a century against them with the bat in the three-test series in August, the 34-year-old has said. Yasir became the fastest bowler to claim 200 test wickets in late 2018 but has not been able to maintain that level of performance since.

With Mushtaq Ahmed coming onboard as Pakistan's spin bowling coach, Yasir says he has been working on his googly and was happy with the progress. "My googly is coming out well," Yasir told reporters from Worcester on Tuesday. "In the two-day match, all the googlies I bowled landed well and spun well. I think it will be my most important weapon."

While English conditions are tailor-made for swing bowlers, Yasir said spinners could expect some assistance in August. "Counties usually sign spinners for July to September because in these three months, spinners get help on dry wickets.

"So I am hopeful that the wickets will assist the spinners." While he managed only four wickets in the two-test series in Australia last year, Yasir registered his maiden century in Adelaide, which appeared to have whetted his batting appetite.

"I am working on my batting in the nets," said the tailender. "When the team needs you, you need to step up. So I do have a target, of scoring a century in England. If I can hit a hundred at Adelaide, I can do it here as well."

The first test is scheduled in Manchester from Aug. 5 while Southampton hosts the next two matches of the series, which is to be played in a bio-secure environment and without spectators due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.