England vs Pakistan at Trent Bridge – Test preview
Pakistan’s three-wicket victory over Australia at Headingley, where they dismissed Ricky Ponting’s side for just 88 in the first innings, should mean they enter the four-Test series against England brimming with confidence.
It was a victory that broke a record Test losing streak against the Aussies, demonstrated the potency of teenage swing bowler Mohammad Aamer and his pace partners Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul in conditions that favoured the bowlers and saw Salman Butt make a winning start to his Test captaincy.
This, though, is still Pakistan, a team that if nothing else can be relied on for their inconsistency and one which is never far from turmoil. It was only at the start of this year, after all, that Mohammad Yousuf led his side on a winless tour of Australia, and that the PCB held an inquiry into the abysmal results and meted out punishments to a number of players, only to see many of them subsequently reversed.
Yousuf, and his captaincy predecessor Younis Khan remain in exile from the team; http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482’s leadership lasted for just one, 150-run, thumping; and now Butt has the job of guiding his team for the remainder of their Tests in England.
He’ll have his work cut out for him too against an England team that is undergoing a renaissance in all forms of the game.
Stuart Broad, James Anderson and most likely Steven Finn (who will likely get the nod ahead of late inclusion to the squad Tim Bresnan) don’t quite have the pizzazz of Pakistan’s pace trio, but they do make for a tight bowling unit that should rival, if not beat, Pakistan for consistency as the pressure mounts at Trent Bridge.
None of England’s pacemen have the raw talent of Aamer, who though still in the early stages of his career has already drawn comparisons with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292, but combined they make for a well-balanced attack.
Add off-spinner Graeme Swann to that trio and there are plenty of reasons to think Pakistan’s inexperienced top order, including test novices Umar Amin and Azhar Ali, might struggle.
The question is how England’s more settled batting line-up copes with the Pakistan attack, and whether they can withstand it better than Australia managed at Headingley, and during a destructive final session on day one of the first Test at Lord’s.
And while Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood should prove to be the bedrocks of England’s batting, there’s more than one batsman with something to prove in this match, and for the remainder of the series. Kevin Pietersen is one of them, his last Test century coming against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 2009, although his 99 against Bangladesh in Chittagong earlier this year marked a return to form for the 30-year-old.
Another is Eoin Morgan, who made his Test debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 in May. The Dublin-born batsman will need to make the most of the injured Ian Bell’s absence in the middle order to put himself in the selection frame for the Ashes at the end of the year.
There’s the subtext in this match too. For England, it’s not just about defeating Pakistan; it’s about proving themselves ahead of the 2010/11 Ashes. Survive http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746’s fast bowlers – who struggled to match Pakistan for consistency in Leeds - down under.
Prediction: The home advantage and overall stability in England’s line-up should put them in the box seat for a winning start to the series.
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