International cricket continues this week, Pakistan are in England and the first of three test matches gets underway at Old Trafford on Wednesday
This behind closed doors series comprises of this test match in Manchester and then 2 in Southampton.
England have just completed a series win over the West Indies and they have named an unchanged squad.
England: Joe Root (captain), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Pakistan named 20 players for this test series and the squad comprises of the following pool of players.
Pakistan: Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Sr, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah
Recent Test Match Form
England returned to action last month with a 3 match test series against West Indies, also behind closed doors. They were on the wrong end of a surprise result in the opening match, losing a thriller by 4 wickets in Southampton but the second and third tests were staged at Old Trafford and the home side hit back with 2 wins, by 113 runs and then 269 runs.
Pakistan's most recent test match action came in a home series against Sri Lanka in December 2019. The first test was drawn and they clinched the series with an emphatic 263 run victory in the second test. A month earlier they went down 2-0 in Australia, losing both matches by more than an innings.
Recent Head to Head
The teams met in England in 2018 and the 2 match series was shared at 1-1 with Pakistan winning the first contest at Lords (9 wicktes) and England squared things up at Leeds (innings and 55 runs).
In 2016 Pakistan's tour of England saw a 4 match series drawn at 2-2 with the visitors winning the first and fourth contests.
Old Trafford Manchester
Over the last decade England have now won 5, drawn 1 and lost 1 of the 7 test matches at Old Trafford. The defeat came in last years Ashes series against Australia. That also sequence includes a 330 run win over Pakistan in 2016.
The weather forecast is always worth keeping an eye on
The Betting:
1st Test Match Winner
England 5/10
Draw 7/2
Pakistan 11/2
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
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The Verdict:
England have the benefit of having won back to back tests at this venue against West Indies recently and whilst Pakistan have drawn on each their last 2 tours here, they face a tall order in the circumstances this time around.
Finding a pre-match bet that appeals is another conundrum. Stuart Broad obliged with a Man of the Match play in the third test against West Indies although conditions favoured a bowler and that might not be the case this time around. My hopes will be pinned on skipper Joe Root in that particular market with the England skipper due a big knock.
One other bet is England to hit the most sixes in the match. It's not a market I would normally consider for a test match but if there is little on offer for bowlers the likes of Stokes and Buttler could well take a shine to some of the opposition attack.
Bets: To hit the most sixes in the match, England at 11/10
Man of the Match Joe Root at 9/1
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