England have arrived in the UAE pledging to avoid the errors which condemned them to a humiliating 3-0 defeat by Pakistan on their previous visit to the Middle East.
More than three-and-a-half years have passed since Andrew Strauss led his side — newly crowned as the best in the world — to a whitewash at the hands of Pakistan’s spinners.
And this tour, which starts on Monday in Sharjah with the first of two two-day matches against Pakistan A, follows another heady summer for the English game. But captain Alastair Cook, part of that series in early 2012, has some simple advice for his team-mates.
‘The one thing I remember is that skiddy, back-of-a-length spin is difficult to face,’ he said. ‘With DRS now, you can’t just get your pad in the way and say you’re a long way down. if it’s in line, you’re out. We’re going to have to make sure we defend using our bats.’
England suffered 22 lbw decisions in the three Tests, part of a world-record series tally of 43. And although off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and slow left-armer Abdur Rehman, their destroyers from 2011-12, will not be around this time, leg-spinner Yasir Shah has claimed 61 wickets in his 10 Tests. England are yet to face him in any form of the game.
The UAE poses challenges like no other venue. Temperatures of 40C mean seam bowlers have to operate in short spells, and ice-vests can become as much a part of the kit as gloves and pads.
And since relocating to the desert following the terrorist attacks on buses carrying the Sri Lanka team in Lahore in 2009, Pakistan are unbeaten in seven series there.
‘That shows what is in front of us,’ said Cook. ‘The great thing in Test cricket is trying to win away from home. It’s getting harder and harder.’
England’s first task is to pick a side capable of doing the job. Cook has insisted leg-spinner Adil Rashid is ready for Test debut, and Notts’ spin-bowling all-rounder Samit Patel could enter the mix.
The captain must also decide which of Moeen Ali or Alex Hales will become his seventh opening partner since the retirement of Strauss three years ago — though one possibility, outlined by Cook himself, is for Ali to bat at No 5.– Daily Mail