England win toss, bat against Pakistan in first Test

DUBAI: England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in the first match of the three-Test ‘home’ series here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Pakistan entered the match with two spinners in Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman, but England did not include left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, instead playing a third paceman, Chris Tremlett.

Stuart Broad (foot) and Ian Bell (left wrist) had minor injuries but both were well enough to be part of the starting eleven.

Pakistan: Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman.

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson.

Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZ) & Bruce Oxerford (AUS), TV umpire: Steve Davis (AUS)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

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Pak-England Test series begins today in UAE

DUBAI: Pakistan will begin today their three-match ‘home’ Test series against England in the United Arab Emirates.

Rival captains Misbah-ul-Haq and Andrew Strauss both believe batsmen will be under pressure to perform.

The pitch for the opening encounter at Dubai stadium is likely to help spin bowlers and although Pakistan were certain to play with Saeed Ajmal and Adul Rehman, Strauss gave little hints at England's combination.

"It will depend on the state of the wicket, you always pick your team which you think gives you the right balance to win a Test and if the wicket turns a hell of a lot then obviously two spinners become an option," he said.

England, who rose to the top of the world Test rankings in August last year, last played two spinners in a Test in March 2010 when off-spinner James Tredwell partnered Graeme Swann.

But they will be hard pressed to include Monty Panesar, considering his eight-wicket haul in their second tour game win and the history of the pitch which helps spinners.

Pakistan won one of the two Tests played here so far, against Sri Lanka in October last year on the back of 13 wickets by the trio of Ajmal, Rehman and opener Mohammad Hafeez, who gives them an extra option in spin.

Spinners also took 11 of the 25 wickets that fell in the drawn Test between Pakistan and South Africa in 2010.

England losing Tim Bresnan - who gives them a batting option - as soon as the tour started, will push them to either play with five batsmen and include a third seamer, but Strauss remained philosophical.

"I will say we are trying to put the right team to win a game of cricket. That's always our philosophy," said Strauss, who showed confidence paceman Stuart Broad will recover from a minor foot injury.

"Because the wickets here are reasonably flat it's a great challenge for our bowlers who have done well, so its a logical next step to say 'right come on lets prove ourselves' and certainly you have to play well against them," said Strauss.

Strauss said Panesar bowled well and it was nice to see him back in the picture after playing the last of his 39 Tests at Cardiff in the 2009 Ashes.

"Monty bowled exceptionally well (in the side game) and it's fantastic to see him back, but as I said you pick the side which fits the conditions and allow you to win and that's all we will do tomorrow.

"The first Test always sets the tone for the rest of the series so the initial skirmishes are always important, Pakistan have played lot more cricket out here but the things are quite even in this respect as we have a good build up."

Misbah agreed batsmen will face a real test in Dubai.

"In Dubai whichever team bats good, gets an edge and its not only the game of spinners, I think fast bowlers also play a very important role, if you look at the last series (against Sri Lanka), the team which batted well won," he said.

"The wicket looks much better than the last Test we played here, we have a balanced attack and the conditions here favours us but at the same time its important to play good cricket against England.

"They are the top side in the world so we just can't rely on the fact that we know the conditions well. We still have to play good cricket to beat them."

The second Test will be played in Abu Dhabi (January 25-29) while the third will be played in Dubai from February 3-7. The Tests will be followed by four one-day and three Twenty20 internationals.

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England eye rankings jackpot

DUBAI: England will win a $175,000 jackpot for topping the world Test rankings if they win the series against Pakistan or lose by a single match, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Monday.

The annual award is presented to the side that finishes at the head of the ICC Test championship table on April 1.

England, who rose to world number one in ICC Test rankings by beating India 4-0 in August last year, face Pakistan in a three match series in Dubai from Tuesday.

"England will have a chance to win the $175,000 jackpot for topping the ICC Test championship table when it goes head-to-head with Pakistan in a three-Test series," the ICC said.

They will only lose the jackpot if Pakistan beat them either 2-0 or 3-0, with world number two side South Africa poised to benefit.

South Africa visit New Zealand for a three-Test series between March 7 to 27 and can still snatch the jackpot from England should their rivals lose by more than one Test and they win on their tour.

"In case of a 1-0 or 2-1 series loss, England will finish on 120 ratings points, one ahead of South Africa (assuming it wins 3-0 against New Zealand)," the ICC explained.

"The side that finishes second in the Reliance ICC Test Championship table on the 1 April cut-off date will receive $75,000."

England captain Andrew Strauss said his team had not thought about the jackpot.

"We haven't thought about that, those sort of things if you start to think about that you are drifting to dangerous terrority," said Strauss.

Meanwhile, Australian opener David Warner has made a big move in the ICC player rankings for Test batsmen, which were updated after the Perth Test.

The 25-year-old, man of the match after hitting the joint-fourth fastest century in Test cricket history, jumped 35 places to 34th position.

Australia beat India by an innings and 37 runs inside three days to lead the four-match series 3-0.

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Pakistan take on England in first Test Tuesday

DUBAI: Rival captains Misbah-ul Haq and Andrew Strauss both believe batsmen will be under pressure to perform as Pakistan take on England in the first Test starting here from Tuesday.

The pitch for the opening encounter of the three-Test series at Dubai stadium is likley to help spin bowlers and although Pakistan were certain to play with Saeed Ajmal and Adul Rehman, Strauss gave little hints at England's combination.

"It will depend on the state of the wicket, you always pick your team which you think gives you the right balance to win a Test and if the wicket turns a hell of a lot then obviously two spinners become an option," he said.

England, who rose to the top of the world Test rankings in August last year, last played two spinners in a Test in March 2010 when off-spinner James Tredwell partnered Graeme Swann.

But they will be hard pressed to include Monty Panesar, considering his eight-wicket haul in their second tour game win and the history of the pitch which helps spinners.

Pakistan won one of the two Tests played here so far, against Sri Lanka in October last year on the back of 13 wickets by the trio of Ajmal, Rehman and opener Mohammad Hafeez, who gives them an extra option in spin.

Spinners also took 11 of the 25 wickets that fell in the drawn Test between Pakistan and South Africa in 2010.

England losing Tim Bresnan - who gives them a batting option - as soon as the tour started, will push them to either play with five batsmen and include a third seamer, but Strauss remained philosophical.

"I will say we are trying to put the right team to win a game of cricket. That's always our philosophy," said Strauss, who showed confidence paceman Stuart Broad will recover from a minor foot injury.

"Because the wickets here are reasonably flat it's a great challenge for our bowlers who have done well, so its a logical next step to say 'right come on lets prove ourselves' and certainly you have to play well against them," said Strauss.

Strauss said Panesar bowled well and it was nice to see him back in the picture after playing the last of his 39 Tests at Cardiff in the 2009 Ashes.

"Monty bowled exceptionally well (in the side game) and it's fantastic to see him back, but as I said you pick the side which fits the conditions and allow you to win and that's all we will do tomorrow.

"The first Test always sets the tone for the rest of the series so the initial skirmishes are always important, Pakistan have played lot more cricket out here but the things are quite even in this respect as we have a good build up."

Misbah agreed batsmen will face a real test in Dubai.

"In Dubai whichever team bats good, gets an edge and its not only the game of spinners, I think fast bowlers also play a very important role, if you look at the last series (against Sri Lanka), the team which batted well won," he said.

"The wicket looks much better than the last Test we played here, we have a balanced attack and the conditions here favours us but at the same time its important to play good cricket against England.

"They are the top side in the world so we just can't rely on the fact that we know the conditions well. We still have to play good cricket to beat them."

The second Test will be played in Abu Dhabi (January 25-29) while the third will be played in Dubai from February 3-7. The Tests will be followed by four one-day and three Twenty20 internationals

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Dhoni backs besieged coach Fletcher

PERTH: Suspended captain M.S. Dhoni has backed coach Duncan Fletcher as the right man to turn around the fortunes of the beleaguered Indian cricket team, despite a run of dismal overseas tours.

Down 3-0 after successive innings defeats in Sydney and Perth, the Indians have already lost the series but have one final chance to redeem themselves in the fourth Test in Adelaide, starting on Tuesday.

But another loss will condemn them to two clean sweep 4-0 defeats in a row on foreign soil after an embarrassing tour of England.

They will be without their skipper for the last Test, following his one match suspension by the International Cricket Council for his second slow over rate infraction in 12 months during the third Test at the WACA Ground.

Pressure is not only mounting on India's misfiring and ageing top order, but also on the feisty Fletcher, who has seen his team win just two of nine Tests during the early part of his two-year tenure.

Both wins were at home against the lowly West Indies and are not enough to gloss over seven straight overseas defeats, four by an innings, since Fletcher took over last year.

India was the top-ranked Test side in the world when Fletcher took the reins, but will drop to third when the official ICC rankings are next released.

His first series at the helm saw the Indians lose all four Tests in England and Fletcher's record as a coach in Australia is even worse, with 12 losses from 13 Tests including his time at the helm of England.

As Indian greats like Kapil Dev, Bishan Bedi and Sourav Ganguly lined up to lambast India's insipid performances, Dhoni said Fletcher was the right man for the job.

"He's one of the most experienced coaches around, the small technical things he knows about bowling and batting, it's very crucial to have.

"It's not like he has become the coach and we have lost two series and he's to be blamed for all the defeats, it's up to the 11 players to go out and perform."

However, former Australian Test batsman Marcus North wrote in an internet column this week that the Indians had gone backwards under Fletcher.

"Team India has been unravelling ever since the departure of Gary Kirsten who, to his credit, found a way to relate and bond this team of champion individuals into a champion team," North wrote.

"Kirsten's replacement, Duncan Fletcher, on the other hand, has managed to undo all of Kirsten's hard work.

"Team unity looks low and relationships are being tested."

Both Bedi and Dev said India's Test performances were suffering due to the Board of Control for Cricket in India's obsession with Twenty20 cricket and its financial rewards.

Ganguly said the Indian Test team needed a major overhaul.

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Dav Whatmore meets PCB officials

LAHORE: Dav Whatmore met Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials on Monday.

Whatmore is the leading candidate to take charge as the cricket team’s new coach.

Whatmore in the past has held the responsibility of coach for the cricket teams of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf and other officials met with Whatmore after which it is expected that a decision on the new coach will be made.

Speaking to the media Whatmore said the Pakistan team had the potential to be a great side and it would be a challenge coaching them.

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