However, they are likely to be tested more by Pakistan’s attack – sharp left-arm pace complemented by the legspin of Yasir Shah – than they were by the Sri Lankans. Steven Finn (32 Tests) and Chris Woakes (eight) look set to be joined in the starting XI by one of two debutants, Jake Ball or Toby Roland-Jones, with Moeen Ali’s offspin completing a five-man attack.
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According to Broad, England could struggle to force a result without Anderson in their ranks.
“I think he will deal with all those things”, said Riaz at Lord’s on Tuesday. The guys did not shake hands at the end of the test. We felt empty when we took the wickets to win the match and did not celebrate. “If you get Cook and Root quickly, you can really put pressure on them, but you can’t take things easy against them”.
“He was with us a year ago in the Ashes when he was injured and in Durban during the winter, when we beat South Africa”.
Pakistan briefly rose to No. 2 in the ICC Test rankings – they are now third, a place above England – after beating England 2-0 in the UAE previous year and Wahab pointed to Misbah-ul-Haq, who stepped up to replace Salman Butt as captain after the 2010 spot-fixing crisis and oversee the rebuilding of the team, as the main reason for their recent success. “But I think the other batting is fragile”.
He is verbal. He lets you know he is bowling at you.
“Personally I would have been tempted to have Jimmy in a 13 [man squad] and have him around working with the bowlers and pushing his fitness to be okay on Thursday”, Broad added.
“I saw him during the week and he was pretty certain he would be in so he will be disappointed he is not in the squad”.
The 28-year-old has been named in England’s squad to face Pakistan with the call coming hours after helping Middlesex to a thrilling County Championship Division One victory over Yorkshire.
The indications remain that Anderson will be back soon, maybe as early as next week.
“If you want to protect the integrity of the game, help cricket grow and inspire youngsters, there can be no place for corrupt players”. But the team management has made a decision to push him to the No. 3 slot following Nick Compton’s self-imposed break from the sport.
No-one with even a passing interest in sport will be unaware of the significance of Amir’s return to the Home of Cricket, for his Test comeback. He can swing the new ball late and has a very good bouncer.
“It seems to me that what he got was about right”.
“It probably comes down to making peace with what (the press) are going to write, what the public are going to think, and accepting that if you get caught second slip having a big whoosh, so be it”.
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Without him, huge responsibilty falls on Broad – with only a callow collection of fellow bowlers for company.
