Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer believes his side are more determined as a result of the ball-tampering row which threatened to end their tour of England. The tourists forfeit of the fourth Test at The Oval after they had been penalised five runs for ball-tampering, and subsequently failed to take the field in protest, was an unprecedented event in 129 years of Test cricket.
They then threatened to scrap the one-day leg of their tour if charges against captain Inzamam-ul-Haq of ball-tampering and bringing cricket into disrepute were not dismissed.
But although the case against Inzamam remains outstanding Pakistan, who have called for controversial Oval umpire Darrell Hair to be barred from standing in all of their future matches, eventually decided to carry on with the tour.
Now they head into the second of a five-match one-day campaign at Lord's here Saturday on the back of a five-wicket Twenty20 win against England on Monday and the better of Wednesday's washed-out series opener at Cardiff.
"I'm very encouraged by our performances," Woolmer told reporters at Lord's on Friday. "What has happened in last 10 days has made us more determined in trying to win the series. "Off the field we've always had a really good team spirit. On the field there's a real determination, it's really noticeable in the way we've fielded.
"The team are playing some really good cricket which is an interesting psychological motivating factor for them. "It's an interesting period in Pakistan's cricket history." Meanwhile Woolmer reiterated his call for Cricket's Law 42.3, the rule governing ball tampering, to be relaxed.
At present the on-field umpires alone are empowered to impose a five-run penalty for ball-tampering and there is no requirement on them to give the fielding side a warning in advance. "If anyone's prepared to listen I'm prepared to chat," said Woolmer in the shadow of the pavilion at Lord's.
"Certainly Law 42.3, it's a bit autocratic. It needs to be looked at in terms of how you approach the fact that you feel the ball is being tampered with. "If it had been treated the way they (the umpires) treat no balls - 'just come back a bit, you're getting close'- that type of thing, a bit more at ease with the players I think that would help.
"So I think that law needs to be revisited. "I think the ball should swing and it doesn't really matter how as long as you are not using external implements like razor blades or bottle tops. "But if you've got your fingers and sweat then the ball should swing. Otherwise it becomes totally a batsman's game.
"Nails are part of the body," added Woolmer when asked if he was in favour of players being allowed to scratch at the ball. "But we need to get this into a proper perspective and discuss this at length.
"If you can encourage the ball to swing, that, I think, is good for the game of cricket." Pakistan now have a fully fit squad to chose from having had to play all the Test series without pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Rana Naved, as well as opening batsman Shoaib Malik.
And impressive quick Mohammad Asif, who took three wickets in Cardiff, only returned from an elbow problem at The Oval. "The two crucial injuries were Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif. They happened to us the day before the first Test. We knew we didn't have Shoaib Akhtar," Woolmer explained.
"It's an exciting team. It's nice to have people with experience, people with tremendous talent and people who can win games. "Michael Atherton said to me we had seven match-winners but I hope all our XI can be."