Home comforts for England as Pakistan seek Test revival

Overview

England v Pakistan
Lord's, London
1st Test
Thursday 24 May – Monday 28 May; 11:00 local (10:00 GMT)

Pakistan arrived in England to play a Test series for the second time in under two years but with a young team and players who haven't quite explored this part of the world.

While the visitors do not have the experience of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, in their new captain Sarfraz Ahmed, under whom Pakistan won the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in England, they will want to better the performance from the summer of 2016, when they had drawn the four-match series 2-2.

However, since that result, which also helped Pakistan climb to No.1 on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, they have lost three and won three of the six series that they have played. The wins came against the Windies, at home in 2016 and away in 2017, and Ireland the other day, whereas the losses came in New Zealand and Australia in 2016-17 and Sri Lanka at home in the United Arab Emirates in 2017.

Since then, England’s captaincy has changed hands too. It’s Joe Root now, and while the hosts have not had the best of winters – losing away series in Australia and New Zealand – their record at home still remains excellent. Under Root, England won the Test series against South Africa and the Windies last summer and will look to keep that record going.

For Pakistan, this will be a Test for the next generation of cricketers.

As many as five uncapped players were named in the squad for the tour, and two of them – Imam-ul-Haq and Faheem Ashraf – got their Test caps in Ireland. Usman Salahuddin, Fakhar Zaman and Saad Ali are in the fray too, but Azhar Ali, one of the few experienced batsmen in the side, acknowledged the responsibility on his shoulders.

“Obviously as a senior player I have to make sure I play my part. And I will try to do whatever I can to build a platform and make sure we have enough runs on the board to help our bowlers,” said Ali ahead of the first Test.

The 33-year-old emphasised on playing attacking cricket with a five-pronged bowling attack. “We want to play attacking cricket, we want to take 20 wickets. That’s why we are going with five bowlers. Hopefully this side will do well for us,” he said.

Imam is the frontrunner to open the innings with Ali after scoring an important 74* in the Ireland Test, where Babar Azam also did well. Them aside, there’s Asad Shafiq and Ahmed, the captain. Both Zaman and Salahuddin did well in the last tour game against Leicestershire, but Haris Sohail was the preferred choice in Ireland.

While Mohammad Amir is expected to lead the bowling attack, he will be assisted by Mohammad Abbas and Rahat Ali in the pace department and young leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who has been in very good form. For the last spot, Ashraf’s batting abilities help him push his case, while Hasan Ali’s success in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 must be on everyone’s mind too.

For England, limited-overs specialist Jos Buttler’s presence signals a change in intent. Buttler will bat at No.7 with Jonny Bairstow, who will retain the wicket-keeping gloves, moving up to No.5.

Buttler, who will be playing a Test alongside Bairstow for the first time since December 2016, said that while he was surprised by the call-up – it came when Buttler was playing for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League 2018 – he saw it as an incredible opportunity.

“It was quite a lot of a surprise. It (Test cricket) wasn't particularly on my radar,” Buttler said. “But, through a change of selectors, I've been afforded an incredible opportunity. It's a fantastic surprise and an incredible opportunity. It feels like another debut, really.”

Buttler has replaced James Vince in the squad, while they are also without Moeen Ali and Jack Leach, who is out with an injury, facilitating the call-up of Dom Bess, the 20-year-old off-spinner.

These changes aside, England will rely heavily on two of their most experienced cricketers, Alastair Cook and Root, to deliver in yet another home season. While Cook hasn't been in good form, for Root it has been a matter of not being able to convert starts into really big scores.

“I'm sure it's just a matter of time and there will be one or two innings where it just clicks into place and I'll go on a little run of big scores,” Root said in the lead-up to the Test and England will hope that is the case.

Mark Stoneman, Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes complete the batting line-up while James Anderson and Stuart Broad will lead the bowling attack, and will assisted by some of Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Bess.

Key players

Joe Root: The most in-form English batsman coming into the series is their captain, which is always a good sign for any team. Root may have had issues getting centuries, but has nine half-centuries in his last nine Tests. Back at home, he should be able to help England start their summer on a positive note.

Azhar Ali: The most experienced top-order batsman in the Pakistan line-up, Ali will have the responsibility of playing out the new ball and laying a platform for the middle order to capitalise on. With so many youngsters around, the 33-year-old has a big job on his hands and one that he is aware of. If Ali can get going, the others can play around him.

Conditions: The forecast for the first Test isn't great, with rains predicted in London. The temperatures should hover around 20°, but it could be a stop-start affair on the first two days. The fast bowlers on either side will be happy.

Squads

England: Joe Root (c), Mark Stoneman, Alastair Cook, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Mark Wood

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c/wk), Azhar Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Sami Aslam, Haris Sohail, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Saad Ali, Asad Shafiq, Usman Salahuddin, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Faheem Ashraf