I'll try and explain. When the squad was announced initially, they said they weren't happy with his level of match fitness, so he went a played a game in the domestic Quaid-e-Azam trophy, in which he did well, so when Umar Gul got that ankle injury of his, he was asked to be sent to SA by the first available flight. Problem in that was that he couldn't find a plane in time (seat allocation problems) and now will miss the first test starting today because he'd still be travelling then. So I expect you can see him after the first test, possibly in the third, a possibly of which Woolmer has spoken of too.

Umar Gul remains a doubtful starter for today's match too, as does the South African paceman Daryl Styen, who is suffering from a thigh strain. I have a good feeling going into this test, although we'll probably be missing our two most inform players in Gul and Yousuf. But the enforced absence of Malik and Razzaq means after ages Pakistan will finally field a side with at least six specialist batsmen, one hopes Asim Kamal and Faisal Iqbal will not let this opportunity go by waste. With Kamran Akmal coming in at 7, even though he's been somewhat short of runs off late, the batting looks okay, provided these guys are prepared to apply them selves. Bowling looks okay to with Naved, Asif, Nazir and Kaneria, but again it may be a matter of how well and how quickly everyone adapts to the different conditions in South Africa.

Pakistan (probable) Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria

South Africa (probable) Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini