Pakistan v England – Test Cricket (17 January – 7 February)

Evidence of misdemeanours, of which there was plenty, will ensure there’s an extra edge to proceedings when Pakistan face England in three Test matches in the United Arab Emirates. England could probably do without the extra distractions as they attempt to consolidate their position as the world’s number one Test-playing nation but you can understand Pakistan trying to extract a bit of revenge for the circumstances in which they were deprived of three of their best players, in a couple of cases, ad infinitum. The infamous spot-fixing cases did, after all, take place at Lord’s, the spiritual home of English cricket and Mervyn Westfield‘s admission of a similar crime earlier this week could not have come at a worse time. So the scene is set for a feisty series – but do Pakistan have the firepower to disturb the equilibrium at the top of the Test rankings?

Certainly, if the series were being staged in England you would bet against Pakistan, but conditions in the UAE seem sure to play to the strengths of the ‘hosts’, though not as much as if the series were being contested on the sub-continent, and will be entirely alien to Andrew Strauss‘ team. That’s one reason why the ‘visitors’ have included Monty Panesar as a second experienced spinner in the party and why he’s already had game time.

The eyes of the cricketing world will defintely be on Pakistan and England, who have met just once since the spot-fixing furore exploded. England won that World Cup warm-up game in Fatullah last February and both camps insist they have moved on since Pakistan‘s last tour of England ended in acrimony. It will be a new-look Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the First Test on January 17th and some would say a more stable one under Misbah-Ul-Haq. Young bowlers Junaid Khan and Mohammad Talah will be good back-up to Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Wahab Riaz and England‘s batsmen, Ian Bell and Johnathan Trott in particular, have already been struggling on the UAE‘s unfamiliar pitches. But there remains a question mark over the Pakistan batting as England easily worked over Asad Shafiq and Imran Farhat in 2010 and found little resistance in the tail. Despite having to send home Tim Bresnan, England‘s bowlers have already looked in good nick on the tour and it looks as though conditions will suit them just as much as their ‘hosts’.

Teams are under pressure to produce results in Test matches nowadays and this series will be more cut-and-thrust than some so it would be no surprise if there was a positive outcome in each of the three five-day games. England‘s top order could be the key as both Strauss and Alistair Cook have the technique and patience to bat long and I’m not sure the Pakistan openers do. Take England to win the series at 6/5 with Blue Square, Stan James and 888sport. A 2-1 correct score is 12/1 with Blue Square, sportingbet and 888sport.