1st Test England v Pakistan, Lord's 14-18 July

[Aidan11]

Test cricket returns on Thursday so we're due a new thread.


Gary Ballance is a bit of a doubt having being given another chance by the selectors. Should he fail it could mean Stokes fitting back in or possibly Borthwick with an outside chance.


A series against Pakistan always seems to be a controversial affair and so far the elephant in the room is Mohammed Amir who returns after serving a ban for spot fixing.

Weather doesn't seem to be too much of an issue.

[Aidan11]

I'm surprised they haven't named someone to cover for Ballance.


Does this suggest he probably will be fit or are they having an ongoing assessment of his fitness?

[Aidan11]

It's the former....he's fit.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/ ... an-cricket

[Arthur Crabtree]

Jones or Ball?

It'll be Ball of course.

[Aidan11]

I reckon Ball as well.

[Arthur Crabtree]

A glance at Pakistan's meagre overseas record suggests we could be looking at a 4-0. But they'll be determined. I didn't get the impression the two sides were close in the UAE series.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I imagine Giles Clarke won't be presenting Amir with his POTS.

[Dr Cricket]

Hard to say Arthur literally the team played 6 away test outside Asia in what 7 years.
Really hard to say considering hardly any players got mental baggage of away games, if the Pakistani players got the ability they will do well not sure what happens in 2010 or before makes any difference to it.
It really like saying England should be fav in India because they won in 2012 and last lost to India in 2008.

Really hard to see pak losing 4-0 they got too much pride and ability to lose that easily if they do lose 4-0 I will reckon 2 of them will be close games.

In recent time getting the impression English fans/ media have started to take Anderson and broad for granted no question about it they are the reason why England win 70-90% of home series and game well, I really not sure England would maintain that rate if they get injured or retire and test series in England will go back to being close again mostly because England don't have the bowling attack to dismiss teams cheaply all the time and team got a chance of winning games.

Really Anderson and broad the reason England win want 90% of home series these days easily without them really the last 3 home summer results would be closer.
Broad was also the reason they beat SA last winter as well and Anderson was a good support act as well and both basically dominated Pakistan in the uae as well average less than 25.

In the trading and gambling world Pakistan is a good bet right now since many believe England is short without Anderson and Pakistan got a good chance of winning and odds on Pakistan winning could drop by a bit during the test.

The test and series looks closer than it was looking 2-3 months ago

[Arthur Crabtree]

Lost a Test in Zimbabwe not long ago. Think they lost in SA of course. Didn't think it was as few as six games (they lost 3-1 in England in 2010), but did allude to it being few, so maybe the lack of mental baggage will be outweighed by the unfamiliar conditions outside Asia. 4-0 should be on the cards given England's talent for getting home conditions just right, and improving results generally.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I suppose if the pitch preppers get the surfaces wrong, Yasir might win a game. But England will work on making sure that won't happen.

[Aidan11]

Can't see us winning 4-0. Not with the British weather.

[Aidan11]

If I was Amir I'd be equally disgusted shaking hands with Giles Clarke.

[Aidan11]

Not sure what the record generally is of late for away wins in test series but I imagine it's very low.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Can't see us winning 4-0. Not with the British weather.

Fair enough, I was being a bit provocative. Maybe if the pitch doesn't start green at Lord's, a draw might be on there if the sky's clear.

[hopeforthebest]

The BBC are making sure the spot fixing affair lives on, their first report of Pakistan's warm up at Taunton began "Spot Fixer Amir...." and they are replaying on it's web site the BBC version of the spot fixing affair.

I have a feeling the Pakistan team are more battle hardened than England and the batting line up superior. Added to that their bowlers have good memories about the last time they met England. I'll be amazed if England win this series comfortably and unsurprised if Pakistan edge it.