Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur says Pakistan will play “nothing to lose” cricket for the remainder of the Royal London One-Day Series against England.

Arthur’s comments come on the back of a comfortable victory for the home nation in the opening match at the Ageas Bowl, with the next two encounters at Lord’s on Saturday followed by Trent Bridge on Tuesday.

“Pakistan cricket should never be down at No. 9 in the world," he said.

"We need complete buy-in from the players, we have got to give them a lot of confidence and allow them to grow in the roles we've given them.

"Everything I've heard was on view really," he said. "We've had a real good chat about it and got some ideas about how we can put it right.

"I've said to the boys we've got absolutely nothing to lose. I want to see the guys go out and express themselves, play with a bit of freedom. Playing the way we played the other night, we're behind the times."

Arthur, a former coach of both South Africa and Australia, insists he won’t hesitate to wield the selection axe, should performances fail to improve.

"I said to the players this morning that nobody's safe,” he said.

“And if you're over 30 you've got to be coming to the table more often than not, otherwise it's an opportunity to blood some younger players.

“I'm telling no secrets, nobody is 100% safe in the ODI side and the guys know that. Everybody knows they're on notice.

"I've actually started, the other night, going through potential players in Pakistan who can fulfill roles we think we're going to need to evolve.

“In the meantime, the 15 players we've got here, we've got to give them the opportunity to stake their claim to be part of the Pakistan ODI squad going forward.

"We're going to build a team we think can compete in a year or two's time.

“The invitation is there to every player: step up or we'll find somebody else who can step up, it's as simple as that."

 

Trent Bridge will host an Investec Test Match between England and South Africa, and a Royal London One-Day International visit from the West Indies, in 2017.

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