Cricket

Mohammad Amir continued to establish himself as one of the most talented 18-year-olds the game has seen with a magical spell of left-arm swing on the second day at Lord's. He took four wickets without conceding a run in the morning and returned after lunch to claim two more, but couldn't get past Jonathan Trott who played a fine innings and added an unbroken 83 with Stuart Broad to lift England to 185 for 7 at tea.

England's middle order, though, was blown away in the blink of an eye as they slumped to 47 for 5. It was just the fifth time in Test history that numbers four to six had been removed without scoring and the first time it had happened to England as their batting woes reached new levels. Kevin Pietersen's nightmares continued when he departed first ball and the key middle-order trio faced just seven balls between them.

Amir was back in business after the break when Matt Prior pushed at a ball he could have left to end a stand of 55 and he soon had his sixth when Graeme Swann drove to gully where Azhar Ali clung into a good grab. With Amir and Mohammad Asif gaining prodigious swing it appeared as though the home side would fold, but for the second match running Pakistan's advances were held up by an eighth-wicket stand as Trott and Broad replicated what Prior and Broad managed at The Oval to haul the total towards respectability.

That looked a long way away during the morning. Amir had three balls left in the interrupted over from the previous evening and he was in the action straight away when Cook edged a fine outswinger to Kamran Akmal having been beaten by the previous delivery. Cook's technique still struggles against the moving ball, but most batsmen would have had a tough time in the conditions.

However, there was very little excuse for Pietersen's horrid dismissal as he drove at a very wide delivery first ball and edged low to the wicketkeeper. He spoke yesterday about how his confidence has been 'hammered' in recent months and this was a shot to back-up those sentiments, but it isn't the first time Pietersen has been undone by his desire to feel bat on ball straight away. On the Pakistan balcony Waqar Younis, the coach, could barely hide his excitement at the wicket which suggested it may even have been a plan to play on Pietersen's ego straight away.

The morning continued to get better for Pakistan and specifically Amir. There were rumours the visitors considered resting him after the heavy workload of the last two months, but with cloud cover and a favourable pitch he became almost unplayable. One of the great skills for a left-armer is to bring the ball back into the right-handers late to catch them on the crease and that's exactly how Amir dispatched Collingwood three balls later.

Collingwood played half forward with bat and pad together and Billy Bowden initially declined the appeal, but Pakistan asked for a review. Hotspot showed contact with pad came fractionally before bat and when Hawk-Eye showed it was hitting middle Collingwood was soon given out.

At this point England still hadn't added to their overnight score but Trott brought momentary relief with two boundaries off Asif, the second a sweet cover drive which belied the difficulties batsmen were facing. However, in Amir's next over the slide resumed as Morgan's decline since his debut hundred continued when he edged low to second slip where Yasir Hameed, who has been key to improving Pakistan's catching, held a sharp chance.

It was another excellent delivery and there no disgrace for Morgan nicking off, but as with a number of England's batsmen, it will be the repetitive nature of the dismissal which will cause concern. The left-arm over angle has been a particular problem and Australia are likely to have two in their Ashes line-up so it will be a regular challenge for Morgan should be make the line-up.

Trott stood head and shoulders above his colleagues as he showed a solid technique and impressive judgement to survive the toughest spells. His fifty came from 90 balls (at The Oval he faced 136 deliveries for 36) and he continued to be the most solid presence in England's top six as he passed 1000 Test runs.

Prior, after a scare on nought when TV evidence couldn't prove if a catch at gully was clean, had again looked in good form before being drawn into a wide ball from Amir, but Broad has picked a opportune moment to rediscover his batting form and followed his 48 last week with another valuable contribution.

Broad timed the ball nicely and despite regularly picking out the fielders didn't let the frustration get to him as he ticked the scoreboard over. Trott, meanwhile, straight drove Wahab Riaz - the least impressive of the quicks - through mid-off and moments before tea Broad launched Amir over deep square-leg for six. Another fascinating Test is brewing.

Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at Cricinfo