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Finn in as teams prepare for ‘English Gabba’
- Updated: August 2, 2016
Match Facts
August 3, Edgbaston Start time 11am (1000 GMT)
The Big Picture
“Edgbaston is like our Gabba,” Stuart Broad said last week. After defeat at Lord’s, England’s confidence has soared again on the back of a thumping win at Old Trafford and now they arrive at a venue with good memories. They have won three of their last five Tests here by large margins, including last year when they reclaimed the lead in the Ashes, spurred on by the most vocal crowd in any English venue.
But this series is still just 1-1. Old Trafford was the type of match Pakistan have not had to play in quite some time: asked to field first on a good batting pitch, with a four-man attack stretched to contain England. Yasir Shah’s drastic change in fortunes meant Misbah-ul-Haq was always struggling to stem the flow of runs. Pakistan’s chances of pushing England in this match could well rest on the toss. Win it, put a decent score on the board and follow the Lord’s template.
England will again have to cover for the absence of Ben Stokes after his calf injury. Chris Woakes’ form has meant that Stokes’ loss has not been as keenly felt as it might have been this summer, but his fiery pace bowling did add another dimension to the attack at Old Trafford before he went lame. His batting, although not especially required last time out because of Joe Root’s epic 254, provides ballast amid a misfiring middle order that still has a lot of uncertainty about it.
It will be those top-order batsmen outside of Root and Alastair Cook where much of the attention will be this week for England. The vulnerability – or at least uncertainty – of Alex Hales, James Vince and Gary Ballance remains the major weakness of this side and leaves much on the shoulders of the two senior batsmen. Ballance, on his return, has looked the most secure but Pakistan’s quicks appear to have the number of Hales and Vince having picked over their techniques.
Given the size of victory at Old Trafford – and the fact they have a quorum of key players in form – if England get on top early they will be difficult to stop. However, in the likes of Yasir and Mohammad Amir, not to mention the steel of their captain, Pakistan have it them …
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