England and Pakistan set to lock horns in Trent Bridge Test
Buoyed from their impressive triumph over the Australians in the second test of the two match series at Headingley Leeds, Pakistan is set to face a stiffer test against England. They kick-off their four test series at Trent Bridge Nottingham tomorrow, Thursday 29 July 2010.
Led by Salman Butt, Pakistan would look to steal at least one win in the series, where they are clearly the underdogs, considering the gulf of experience in the two teams especially in the batting department.
On the eve of the test the hosts have suffered a blow, as Ajmal Shehzad the English pace bowler is ruled out of the opening match due to an ankle injury in his left leg.
"After twisting his left ankle with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yorkshire-c867 over a week ago Ajmal went on to successfully play in a Clydesdale Bank 40 match for his county last Monday", ECB Chief Medical Officer, Nick Peirce, said.
"Unfortunately Ajmal felt some discomfort following England practice at the NCPC [National Cricket Performance Centre] on Tuesday and as a precautionary measure it is felt he is best to undergo rehabilitation on the ankle for the remainder of this week".
The injury is a big blow for the right-armer, who made his test debut only weeks ago against minnows http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 and looked keen on impressing against Pakistan, the country of his origin.
Ajmal has been replaced by Tim Bresnan, who has been in good with both bat and ball especially in the limited overs format of the game.
The all-rounder played a key role in the five match series win over arch rivals http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
The rest of the bowling attack is capable of running through any batting line-up in the world and includes the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad James Finn and Graeme Swann.
The quartet is expected to be fielded with Bresnan on the sidelines, and they would be hoping that the inexperienced Pakistani batting line-up flounders if the ball swings and seams prodigiously at the venue.
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 team showed great vulnerability with the bat during the test series against the Australians, and the more potent English seam attack would be hoping to strike gold in familiar conditions at home.
The tourists have their task cut out in the series, the batsmen would have to shore up the batting and hope that they can muster a good enough total for their bowlers to defend.
Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul the three pronged pace attack rattled the Aussies even when the batsmen failed to score enough runs.
Despite their efforts the batsmen wasted a good opportunity of scoring a win at Lords, throwing away their wickets to part timers like Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 and Marcus North.
Once again they have their task cut out and have to ensure that they come out against the POMS all guns blazing and carry on the momentum they gained at Leeds.
The wicket is expected to provide an equal opportunity for the batsmen and bowlers, and the contest is set to be challenging for both teams.
Lastly the two teams would hope that the latest series between them is devoid of any controversy after the turmoil witnessed in the 2005 and 2006 series in Pakistan and England.
The series in Pakistan was dampened by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Inzamam-ul-Haq-c64383’s team walked out of the Oval after umpire Darell Hair accused them of ball tampering, and awarded a five run penalty.
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