Former Yorkshire star believes Pakistan can feel right at home

Forced out of their homeland because of life and death matters away from the crease, they have been adopted by England, and in particular, Yorkshire.

Headingley Carnegie this week is a long way from Karachi or Lahore, and their team spirit may have been decimated by Shahid Afridi's resignation as captain in the wake of the first Test defeat to Australia at Lord's and the scandal that saw Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, suspended in March for allegedly inciting divisions in the team.

But as they prepare for their second Test with Australia this week, the man ostracised from a team who are exiled from their own country, hopes the people of the White Rose will embrace Pakistan as the home team this week and give his young compatriots a platform for the future.

"Obviously we cannot play in our homeland, but at least we are playing some cricket," said Khan, who spent a year at Yorkshire in 2007. "Whether we are losing or winning, at least we are playing.

"That's important, especially for the young players and the young fans who can come and watch them.

"For me Headingley was always very special. I played there the first time in 2001 against England.

"That was a memorable moment, as it was in 2006 when I put on a huge score.

"The conditions at Headingley are always good, the crowd is excellent. There's a big local Pakistani community in Yorkshire, particularly in Bradford and Huddersfield.

"It's fantastic that our country has this opportunity to play in Yorkshire.

"When you're not playing at home you do lose home advantage. Pakistan in Pakistan are hard to beat, so we lose that advantage.

"But in a country like England, our young players particularly are playing in different conditions on different wickets that they won't be used to, so that will stand them in good stead and if they perform well here it will open their eyes and their hearts."

Khan has welcomed the contribution to the Pakistan plight made by Yorkshire County Cricket Club and appreciates the gamble they took by forfeiting an England versus Bangladesh Test match in favour of staging Pakistan's second Test with Australia.

He now hopes the Pakistan community in the county and in the north of England return that gesture by turning up in their thousands to support the team over the five days.

"This Test match is something for not only the Pakistani community, but the whole community, to embrace," said Khan, 32. "If Pakistani families and youngsters come and watch this game at Headingley they will really enjoy it.

"It's fantastic for the fans and also for Pakistan cricket.

"If Pakistan can use Leeds and three or four other cities as their base then that will be really good for Asian cricket in this country.

"It should be a special week.

"I loved my time at Yorkshire, sharing the dressing room with world-class players like Michael Vaughan, Darren Gough, Jason Gillespie and Anthony McGrath.

"Even now you see the influence those players had on the likes of Ajmal Shahzad, Adil Rashid and Azeem Rafiq, who were all very young at the time but who are now making big strides.

"Their progress through the Yorkshire and England teams is an example for other young Asian cricketers in Yorkshire to follow."

While the task for Yorkshire and Pakistan this week is to embrace each other as partners, the challenge for the players on the pitch is to level the series with a formidable Australia team who, when they visited Headingley last summer, destroyed England inside three days.

Despite the best efforts of Salman Butt in the first Test at Lord's, and the promise shown by Azhar Ali and Umar Amin among others, Khan's advice to his former team-mates is to bat as a team.

Khan, who has played 63 Test matches for his country, said: "Australia played better cricket. Pakistan had their chances, bowled really well, but then they didn't put together any kind of batting partnerships.

"They're a young team, they have some exciting young players, and they're gelling.

"All around it was not a bad effort, especially from the bowling department.

"But they lost the game because they didn't put any partnerships together. In Test cricket you need to have two or three good partnerships.

"At Headingley, Pakistan need to post a competitive first innings total, something in excess of 350.

"If they can do that they give their bowlers something to defend and it gives them a chance.

"All you need is two or three partnerships. If they can get two players putting on 150 to 200 runs then that provides the platform."

And Khan has sympathy for Afridi and the decisions he has made in recent days.

"Shahid was doing his best," he said. "When you play against the best team in the world you're always up against it.

"He wasn't happy with the captaincy, and this is his way, his choice. Everybody has the right to choose."