Tired Yousuf will not play

Mohammad Yousuf has ruled himself out of contention for the second Test against England at Edgbaston, after arriving in the country less than 24 hours before the start of the match on Friday. Yousuf missed Pakistan's final practice on Thursday afternoon as he rested up in the team hotel following a flight from Lahore, and always looked like a doubtful starter despite Pakistan's desperation to get back into the series following their 354-run hammering at Trent Bridge.

"I have just arrived after a long flight. I will not be training. I will wait for the management to tell me what their plan is," Yousuf had told Cricinfo immediately after arriving in Birmingham.

Later in the evening he had a short and informal meeting over a cup of tea with the tour selection committee comprising Salman Butt (captain), Waqar Younis (coach) and Yawar Saeed (team manager) at the team hotel. "Considering the heavy monsoon across Pakistan Yousuf told us that he could not practice outdoors for the last 10-15 days," Butt told Cricinfo. "So obviously we felt that was not enough match preparation."

Butt added that Yousuf can now set his sights on the third Test at The Oval beginning on August 18. "He can relax for now and steadily get back into the groove in the next week and also during the two-day practice game against Worcester," Butt said. Asked if he was a certainty for the final two Tests, Butt said a player with Yousuf's pedigree would walk into any team if he was fit.

After the heavy defeat in Nottingham, Butt came out in support of his young batsmen - Azhar Ali and Umar Amin - only to be told moments later that Yousuf had agreed to come out of retirement following an SOS call to join the squad. During his press conference prior to the meeting, Butt said he was comfortable having Yousuf back, but had needed to be convinced of his mental state as much as his form before the Test started.

"I am sure he would've picked up the bat at some point because even he knows he is coming to play a Test match," Butt said. "He has to tell me what kind of physical state he is in because it has been a quite a lot of travel for him."

"I would love to have the guy with the most runs in Pakistan and the most hundreds by any Pakistani batsmen," he added. "I would definitely like to use his experience. But it will depend on what kind of state he is in because I don't want to be unfair to anyone. It is a professional outfit, you've got to get people going when they say they are 100 percent ready for it."

Butt admitted it was a far from ideal situation for the team to have to complete their final training with such a key position still up in the air, especially at a time when they are trying to level the series.

"Everybody knows that this is the type of show that has been coming out of Pakistan previously as well as recently," he said. "This is something that can change. It should be more pre-planned and people should know beforehand who is going to come, who is going to play, but players really don't have a choice. [But] it happens with other teams as well. Yes, it happens to Pakistan more often."

Though Yousuf brings with him a wealth of experience and class there remains the danger of rekindling the destructive atmosphere that developed during the tour of Australia where Yousuf was captain and Pakistan lost every match. Butt, though, wants to start afresh rather than think about the past.

"If he can do us something good that will be good for the team," he said. "And there is also a chance for the youngsters to go to him, speak to him and get something from his experience and benefit from that. I hope that his presence has a good effect on the rest of the guys especially the young batsmen."