Pakistan v England Series Preview

With Pakistan unable to host the series in their own country because of security concerns, the nomads of international cricket are calling the UAE home for the series against England. The first test starts on Tuesday morning in Dubai with both teams looking to leave behind the match-fixing controversy that marred their last encounter.

In the betting England are 6/5 (Stan James) to win the three match test series, but Pakistan shouldn’t be ruled out at 14/5 (Boylesports). England’s meteoric rise to number one in the test rankings was well documented but less celebrated was Pakistan’s return to prominence. In 2011, their test record was played 10, won 6, drawn 3, lost 1.

The slow, low pitches in the UAE are familiar to Pakistan, giving the ‘neutral’ venues a very sub-continent feel. Two test matches have been staged in Dubai, yielding 2282 runs, with an average first innings score of 317 runs. The sample size might be pitifully low, but it is a fair guess that wickets will be hard to come by. It is therefore slightly surprising to see the 1-1 draw no bigger than 9/2 with a 0-0 draw a better bet at 11/1 (both with Sportingbet).

Alastair Cook has been the form batsman in the warm-up games for England and is 7/2 (Betfred) to be his team’s leading run scorer in the series. Looking back over 2011, Ian Bell was actually England’s leading test scorer, amassing 950 runs at an average of 118.75. An excellent player of spin, he can be backed at 11/2 with Skybet.

Spin is likely to be the most potent weapon for the bowling attacks, with Saeed Ajmal 4/1 (Stan James) to be the series’ leading wicket taker, closely followed by Graeme Swann at 9/2 (Stan James). Monty Panesar performed well in the last warm-up game taking eight wickets, but uncertain of a starting berth he is 10/1 (Stan James) in the betting.