It was obvious that a crisp start was needed, and Stewart was patently the man for the job.He delivered, too, belting both Wasim and Waqar for fours in the opening overs as he and Knight, reinstated to the opening role he fills for Warwickshire, put on 57 in the first 10 overs. Cricket

Pakistan 225-5 England 226-5 England win by five wickets
In late afternoon, the summer sun can shine straight down this Old Trafford pitch, blinding batsmen with its mirror-like surface. Yesterday, although that surface was cracked and quartered like a Roman mosaic, England, for once, were able to see their reflection without turning away in disgust, easily beating Pakistan by five wickets in the first one-day international.As they are so often inclined to do in these Texaco Matches, England totally outplayed the opposition, once again showing a panache for this sort of cricket that does not travel well abroad. For once, all facets of their game looked polished and, although the home side owed much to Aamir Sohail’s funereal 48 off 117 balls, Atherton’s men can take much credit for the upbeat way in which they approached this match.Chasing a total of 225, on a pitch that threatened Jurassic Park, but played more like Sabina, the England skipper chose to open with Alec Stewart and Nick Knight, and drop himself to No 3. If that is unacceptable they could go it alone a lot sooner, bringing the game to a standstill.What this means for rugby unionl Five Nations Championship not viable in its present forml 1999 World Cup in doubt, therefore more loss of vital revenuel BSkyB deal now in balancel A number of clubs who were relying on a share of the BSkyB cash and could now go to the walll The RFU has a pounds 35m debt on Twickenham’s new stands and faces potential legal action from debenture holders, who could see no international rugby at Twickenhaml Possible end of Courage League this season, with clubs having to reorganise fixtures, find new sponsors and a broadcasting deal.

The RFU are prepared to throw pounds 10m at the other unions and another pounds 10m to safeguard the Five Nations, yet they are not prepared to put a penny into club rugby.”The last straw for the clubs was news that the pounds 2.5m they were told they could expect to share from the Heineken European Cup has been reduced to pounds 1.5m because the organisers, European Rugby Cup Ltd, had failed to find a broadcaster or a sponsor for the second tier of the competition, the European Conference and so have funded that from the original prize pot.Although some clubs will have to refer the breakaway to their membership, once the formalities have been observed it is expected that the clubs will give the RFU a season’s notice. As one senior club figure said: “The Division One clubs already receive pounds 120,000 from Sky, so the increase is a net pounds 180,000. That left some outstanding issues, including the clubs’ desire to sort out their own sponsorship for the Leagues. Courage had agreed to pull out of the top two divisions and concentrate their cash on the remainder, but, according to Epruc, the RFU blocked that.Epruc claim they cannot fund domestic club rugby on pounds 300,000 a year for the First Division and pounds 100,000 for the Second, the cash they are due to receive from the BSkyB deal.

Scottish clubs, too, are said to be disaffected.The breakaway stems from a series of meetings this week. On Tuesday, English First Division Rugby met Epruc representatives at Northampton and their mood was militant. On Wednesday, it was the turn of English Second Division Rugby – again with Epruc – this time in Coventry. Again their decision to break away was unanimous.Yesterday the seal of approval was provided by the money men, such as Sir John Hall, who have between them put some pounds 30m into the game over the last 12 months or so.Essentially, the clubs want a certain amount of autonomy, to which the RFU had agreed according to a resolution drawn up between the two sides on 24 May.

That would mean the RFU was unable to call on the best players to play for England.There is certain to be a call for a Special General Meeting of the RFU. Clubs in the north are rumoured to have provided the requisite number of signatures for a petition which is likely to put a motion of no confidence before the delegates and call for the resignation at least of the team who negotiated the sale of exclusive broadcasting rights to BSkyB for pounds 87.5m over five years at the likely cost to England of their place in the Five Nations.The north see Cliff Brittle, the chairman of the executive, as the champion of their cause and have also gained the backing of the former England and Lions players Fran Cotton and Bill Beaumont, who captained England to the Grand Slam in 1980.The English split could well be copied in other home unions The Welsh clubs are said to be very unhappy with the Welsh. Epruc is due to meet representatives of the Welsh clubs today. The split, also largely along north-south lines, could leave the game with an elite group of professional clubs, while the bulk of the game retains amateurism and allegiance to the RFU. The whole organisation at Twickenham is paralysed by the in-fighting between rival parties. We cannot sit back and wait not knowing when that may or not be resolved.