Tour match, Leicester (day two of two, close):
Leicestershire 296-7 drew with Pakistan 280-7
Match scorecard

Butt scored a century against Australia in Pakistan's last Test in January

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has been left with a selection headache after his side's draw with Leicestershire, in which three batsmen hit fifties.

Salman Butt (57), Yasir Hameed (58) and Umar Amin (51) all retired not out as Pakistan opted for batting practice on day two at Grace Road.

The hosts had declared on 296-7 before lunch, and Pakistan were 280-7 when a draw was agreed.

Pakistan play Australia in the first Test at Lord's next week.

England is hosting the two-Test series because of continuing security concerns in Pakistan.

As well as the four half-centurions, there was also a lengthy innings from Azhar Ali, who retired on 41. But Imran Farhat (six) and Shoaib Malik (10), both expected to be in the Test side, failed.

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Butt timed the ball sweetly as he reached 50 off 59 balls, with successive boundaries off Dan Masters, while Azhar, who arrived in England on Wednesday, batted for two-and-three-quarter hours.

Hameed, battling his way back after injury and a run of poor form, struck eight boundaries in his 58 from 80 balls, while the 20-year-old Amin pushed his claims for a Test debut with a fluent 51 from 70 balls, to follow the 73 he made against Kent two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Waqar believes his young Pakistan side will learn a lot from the challenge of their Test series against Australia and England over the next two months.

Following the first Test at Lord's, which starts next Tuesday, Pakistan play Australia again at Headingley on 21 July before taking on England in a four-Test series immediately afterwards.

"We have a very young but exciting side and I think they are really looking forward to these Test matches," said former fast bowler Waqar.

"It is a very hectic schedule and there will not be much of a breather. Both these nations are playing superb cricket at the moment. Australia are world-beaters on their day and England are improving every day.

"So it is a tough tour for the youngsters, but also a learning tour for them. In many ways, it is like a restart for Pakistan.

"We have not played cricket in Pakistan for a long time. But we played at Birmingham in the Twenty20 match [they won the two-match series against Australia 2-0] and had great support.

"If we get something like that at Lord's and Headingley, that would be great. It is almost like home from home. We are not really short of the backing here. It is just that we have got to play to our potential."

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