Re: Pakistan batting's frailties
Any team can collapse on a day. Australian top-order can do that too (unfortunately not too often). I wouldn't suggest taking 3rd test first day collapse to hang too heavily against our team.
Playing in Pakistan, unfortunately, is very different than playing in Aus and Eng. We all know that. After the disaster of a test series in Australia, the subsequent ODI's showed our team to be coping well with the same Aussie conditions. It takes time for a team to settle down. Expect to see some embarassing results when Pak team plays warm up games at the start of their British summer tour.
If you go back and check the score cards from the disastrous Aussie tour (tests only), you can see a marked improvement with each test. Younis, Yousaf, Butt, Asim all had some decent innings. The problem was consistency. The team was pretty much routed in tests. Came back strong in ODIs, as they had settled into the Aussie conditions.
Even back in '01 when Pakistan toured England under Waqar, Younis played a decent knock in the second test that Pakistan won. The first test Pakistan lost badly (by an innings) because the team had not adopted to the conditions.
Point is, its not that our batsmen can't play in UK/Australia. Its just that it takes time for anyone to get adjusted to the seaming conditions and bouncy pitches. Once they adjust and settle down, they are as good as any. With Woolmer at the helm, hope is, that there will be more tricks up his sleeve to prepare the "boyz" for British conditions and to adapt quickly. Its a full series, so the team has time to gel again and make it an interesting contest. Our bowlers are very capable and will shine in England, Insha Allah. Pakistan has beaten England in England before. And even in very trying circumstances of team morale (remember the disjointed outfit that went under Miandad in '92 that rode the brilliance of 2 W's?). So its very much doable. And with this team, with its fighting spirit and unified approach, the prospects are very good for a successful campaign.