Pooley coolly hauls England A to safety

England A 199 and 191-8 Pakistan A 300 (Match drawn)

A determined unbroken ninth-wicket stand between Jason Pooley and Dean Headley, who put on 49 in 52 minutes, salvaged a draw in the third "Test" and confirmed England A's 1-0 series victory.

But there was a distinct air of embarrassment in the English camp after a nervy afternoon collapse from 80 for 2 to 142 for 8, which had left them staring at defeat.

At tea England A were just 48 runs in front, but the Middlesex left-hander Pooley took charge of the situation. Never afraid to play his shots, he made sure the field did not creep in too closely around the bat and his controlled aggression made sure the runs against time equation began to go England's way.

It was fitting that Headley should play a key role at the end, albeit with the bat. The Kent fast bowler's 17 wickets in the three "Tests" have made him the major discovery of a trip designed to be the breeding ground of future Test cricketers.

John Emburey, the manager, said: "Everything we set out to achieve could have been lost today, and almost was. It was a situation we created for ourselves."

(Final day of five; Pakistan A won toss)

ENGLAND A First Innings - 199 (D P Ostler 68, N V Knight 55; Shahid Nazir 6-64)

PAKISTAN A First Innings 300 (Asif Mujtaba 147no; D W Headley 5-109).

ENGLAND A - Second Innings

(Overnight: 62 for 2)

J E R Gallian lbw b Salman Fazal 58

S D Udal c Javed Sami b Shahid Nazir 2

*N Hussain run out 29

A McGrath c Wasim Yousufi b Athar Laiq 7

D P Ostler b Salman Fazal 5

J C Pooley not out 38

K J Piper c Wasim Yousufi b Salman Fazal 10

D W Headley not out 4

Extras (b9, lb12) 21

Total (for 8, 75.1 overs) 191

Fall: 1-56, 2-61, 3-80, 4-97, 5-109, 6-126, 7-126, 8-142.

Did not bat: E S H Giddins.

Bowling: Athar Laiq 16-4-47-1; Shahid Nazir 22-6-55-2; Shadid Anwar 2- 1-4-0; Akram Raza 15.1-1-33-1; Salman Fazal 16-8-20-3; Asif Mujtaba 1- 0-4-0; Babar Zaman 2-0-6-0; Shahid Javed 1-0-1-0.