NOTTINGHAM: Matt Prior’s unbeaten
century left England well placed for victory inside four days in the first Test
against Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

Scorecard

Pakistan,
at stumps on the third day, had collapsed to 15 for three – still needing a
further 420 runs for what would be a new world record fourth innings victory
total of 435.

The most any side has ever made in the fourth innings
to win a Test is the 418 for seven scored by the West Indies against Australia
in Antigua in 2003.

Pakistan’s equivalent record is the 315 for nine
they scored against Australia at Karachi in 1994.

Prior’s 102 not
out was the major contribution to an England second innings total of 262 for
nine declared, made after he came in at 72 for five.

Stuart Broad,
on his Nottinghamshire home ground, then had Pakistan captain Salman Butt,
flashing outside off-stump, well caught by Paul Collingwood at third slip.

Two balls later, Broad had Azhar Ali lbw for nought and by stumps
had taken two wickets for 14 runs in three overs.

Umar Amin was then
lbw for one to James Anderson as Pakistan suffered their latest top-order
collapse, losing three wickets for one run in seven balls.

Imran
Farhat was six not out and nightwatchman Mohammad Aamer unbeaten on nought at
the close.

“The way Jimmy and Broady took those three wickets put us
in a very strong position,” Prior told reporters.

Earlier, the
Sussex wicketkeeper was some distance from a century, on 63, when last man
Steven Finn came to the crease.

But Middlesex quick Finn showed a
fine defensive technique and good temperament to hold an end up for 50 minutes
on his way to nine not out in an unbroken tenth-wicket stand of 49.

“I had a huge amount of confidence in him,” Prior said of Finn. “We
just played a county match against each other and I had to watch him get a
35-ball nought not out which was thoroughly annoying.

“I just said
‘same again please mate’ and he did a fantastic job.”

Prior hoisted
leg-spinner Danish Kaneria for two sixes in three balls but also took a single
off the first ball of an over seven times with Finn at the other end.

But Prior’s faith in Finn was rewarded when he late cut-off spinner
Shoaib Malik for three to complete a third hundred in his 32nd Test. It was his
first at this level since he made 131 not out against the West Indies in
Trinidad in March last year.

However, Prior was only seven shy of
three figures in England’s last Test, against Bangladesh at Old Trafford in
June.

“I’m not a huge stats watcher,” Prior said. “I got 93 in the
last Test I played, so it doesn’t feel that long ago I contributed to the team
and that’s the important thing.”

Prior, who has lost his place in
England’s one-day side to fellow South Africa born gloveman Craig Kieswetter,
added: “International cricket is about pressure. I’ve not played a day for
England not being under pressure, so I’m used to it, I enjoy it and I thrive on
it.

“It probably brings out the best in me.”

England
captain Andrew Strauss declared with Prior having faced 136 balls with two sixes
and seven fours in over three hours at the crease.

Earlier Umar Gul
ensured Pakistan avoided the follow-on with a Test-best 65 not out, and then
took three wickets for seven runs in 21 balls.

The only downside to
an otherwise fine day for England was Kevin Pietersen’s dismissal for 22 – the
21st Test innings in a row where the star batsman had failed to score a century.

Pietersen got an inside edge off seamer Gul and wicketkeeper Kamran
Akmal held a superb one-handed diving catch.

Before lunch, England
lost Strauss for a third ball nought.

He edged to second slip where
Umar Akmal fumbled the chance and then, flailing away, knocked the ball up, with
Umar’s brother Kamran reacting well to complete the catch.

WASHINGTON – To rebut a lengthy list of alleged ethical misdeeds, Rep. Charles Rangel is trotting out this three-way defense: I didn’t do it. I did it, but was inattentive. Others lawmakers were allowed to do the same thing without penalty.

It’s an approach that nervous Democrats are watching closely in one of the most politically explosive cases in years.

Should it go to a public trial this fall, smack in the middle of the election season, and should his defense fall short, that won’t help Democratic candidates forced to defend their party’s ethics against Republican campaign attacks.

The GOP already is demanding that specific Democratic candidates give up contributions provided by Rangel’s political organizations, and about a half-dozen Democrats have asked the 20-term lawmaker to resign.

He’s facing 13 counts of wrongdoing, including providing official favors in return for donations, hiding income and assets, and failing to pay taxes.

If Rangel’s predicament wasn’t bad enough for Democrats, there’s an added complication on the ethics front: Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., also may face an ethics trial this fall on allegations of improperly trying to help a bank, where her husband owned stock, that was seeking a federal bailout.

People familiar with the Waters investigation, who were not authorized to be quoted about charges before they are made public, say the allegations could be announced this coming week.

Rangel, 80, is a former chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. Waters, 71, is a prominent member of the House Financial Services Committee. Both have influential roles in matters affecting voters’ pocketbooks — thereby linking the important issues of congressional ethics and the economy.

A good portion of the Rangel case revolves around his soliciting donations — from corporate fat cats and foundations — to the Rangel Center at City College of New York, founded to support academic programs in public service.

“The undisputed evidence in the record … is that Congressman Rangel did not dispense any political favors, that he did not intentionally violate any law, rule or regulation, and that he did not misuse his public office for private gain,” according to a written statement prepared by Rangel’s legal team and submitted to the ethics panel that conducted a two-year investigation of his conduct.

The statement said Rangel didn’t “target for solicitation foundations, corporations or individuals with business before the Ways and Means Committee, nor did he offer or provide preferential treatment or favors to potential contributors.”

It acknowledged that Rangel “did not devote sufficient personal attention to the preparation of his original annual financial disclosures.” Hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets and income were reported years after they should have been. The congressman blamed his former chief of staff for many of the errors.

Rangel’s voluntary revisions on those forms “attest to his sincere regret, good faith and acceptance of responsibility for the mistakes that were made in his financial disclosures,” the defense statement said.

Rangel acknowledged his failure to pay taxes on rental income from his unit in the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic. He filed amendments, paid the taxes and “has done everything within his power to fulfill his legal obligations,” the statement said.

Rangel said he wasn’t the only member of Congress to donate papers to a college center and raise money for it from corporate donors.

He cited Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who lent his name to fundraising for a center at the University of Louisville. He said the late Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., had a similar program, and so did other former members of the House and Senate.

Waters came under scrutiny after former Treasury Department officials said she helped arrange a meeting between regulators and executives at Boston-based OneUnited Bank without mentioning her husband’s financial ties to the institution.

Her husband, Sidney Williams, held at least $250,000 in the bank’s stock and previously had served on its board. Waters’ spokesman has said Williams was no longer on the board when the meeting was arranged.

Waters has said the National Bankers Association, a trade group, requested the meeting. She defended her role in assisting minority-owned banks in the midst of the nation’s financial meltdown and dismissed suggestions she used her influence to steer government aid to the bank.

“I am confident that as the investigation moves forward the panel will discover that there are no facts to support allegations that I have acted improperly,” Waters said in a prior statement.

The committee unanimously voted to establish an investigative subcommittee to gather evidence and determine whether Waters violated standards of conduct.

___

Online

House ethics committee: http://ethics.house.gov/

31 July 2010
Last updated at 14:29 ET

Pakistan says it expects “fruitful” talks between its president and David Cameron despite the prime minister’s comments over its alleged terror links.

Intelligence officials have cancelled a UK visit after Mr Cameron said Pakistan should avoid links with groups that “promote the export of terror”.

But the country’s information minister said President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit would go ahead as planned on Tuesday.

Qamar Zaman Kaira said relations between the countries remained strong.

He said any confusion over Pakistan’s commitment to tackling terrorism would be cleared up during the visit.

‘Co-operation’

“We will put the record straight and we believe after that the co-operation will keep on going,” he said.

“We are in co-operation with the United Kingdom to support anti-terror activities… so our co-operation will keep on going. We want to strengthen our relationship.”

Describing Mr Cameron’s statement as “a misperception”, Mr Kaira said that Mr Zardari would use the opportunity to “explain the facts” to the PM during talks at Chequers on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after a speech in the southern Indian city of Bangalore on Wednesday, the prime minister said: “We should be very, very clear with Pakistan that we want to see a strong, stable and democratic Pakistan.

“We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world.”

His remarks followed the leaking of US documents on the Wikileaks website in which Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency was accused of secretly helping the Afghan insurgency.

‘Double game’

On Saturday, opposition politicians in Pakistan urged Mr Zardari to call off his trip, while demonstrators burnt an effigy of the prime minister on the streets of Karachi.

Pakistani security sources confirmed the cancellation of the visit was as a direct result of Mr Cameron’s comments.

They said his suggestion Pakistan was playing a “double game” in Afghanistan had caused a great deal of anger within Pakistan’s security establishment, government and civil society.

Furious Pakistani foreign office statements have pointed to sacrifices made by the country.

Mr Cameron’s spokeswoman insisted he was talking about Pakistan as a country, not its government.

She said that the main message was for Pakistan to shut “terror groups” down.

Former ISI head, retired General Hamid Gul, said Mr Cameron’s comments were a “huge mistake” and had upset the entire Pakistani nation.

He told BBC Radio 4′s PM programme: “The UK had always maintained a very delicate balance between India and Pakistan and this has been rather rudely broken.

“And this has upset many Pakistanis, in fact the entire nation is really up in arms, but more than that, I don’t see the sagacity in it, the wisdom.”

Shadow foreign secretary David Miliband said the cancellation of Pakistan’s Intelligence Service counter terrorism conference was “clearly bad news”.

‘Deep disarray’

“The prime minister’s comments this week told only part of the story and that has enraged people in Pakistan. It is vital he shows that he understands the need not just for Pakistan to tackle terrorism but that he will support them in doing so and understand the losses they have suffered.”

Sir Hilary Synott, former British High Commissioner to Pakistan, said the fact that the comments were made in India would annoy Pakistan.

But he said India and Britain had shared interests as both countries had been affected by the activities of groups such as Lashka-e-Toiba and Hakani network.

He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “It’s quite clear Pakistan hasn’t been controlling these groups sufficiently, so there comes a time and it’s for a politician to judge this time, when these matters have to be said more strongly.”

Dr Farzana Sheikh, associate fellow at Chatham House think tank, said there was “deep disarray” inside the ranks of the Pakistani government, with the intelligence officials and military “clearly at odds” with the political leadership over how to react.