Skipper Eoin Morgan could select three spinners in what he sees as a “good test” for the winter tours of India and Bangladesh.
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A fixture that is already guaranteed to make history (because the third umpire will call front foot no-balls) could take another interesting twist if England opt to field Liam Dawson alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.
Tough to tip the first match in any series, but given where momentum is from the Test series and Pakistan’s brutal thumping of Ireland, expect them to take a 1-0 lead.
Good news is that the drainage at this ground is far better than Trinidad and Durban where two Test matches have lately been washed out.
When you compare his stats to those of Alex Hales in Tests, the Nottinghamshire opener averaging just 18 in the recent 2-2 series draw against Pakistan, there is a case for giving Roy a shot in the longer form of the game.
England included Jos Buttler and Mark Wood, both back in the side after injury, and the Durham seamer needed just 19 balls to claim his first wicket, his extra pace beating Sharjeel Khan (16) on the pull and taking the edge – his first global scalp since October 2015. I have been in that position before and it’s a nice feeling to be able to play with freedom in white-ball cricket.
Eoin Morgan feels he has the tools at his disposal to douse Pakistan’s flame in the forthcoming Royal London One-Day Series.
The newly crowned No.1 Test team in the world Pakistan look to replicate that success when they begin a one-day series on their tour of England, at the Rose Bowl.
“Our one-day ranking is not great right now but we will take the opportunity and, the way the team is performing, hopefully we can convert it into ODIs”.
England, the favourites having beaten Pakistan handsomely in the UAE last winter, and with Mark Wood back to add raw pace and reverse swing, England have a varied bowling attack covering all bases.
Stokes’s season has been blighted by knee and calf injuries and he is expected to play in this match just as a batsman only.
Earlier, Azhar and Sarfraz Ahmed made half-centuries for Pakistan before rain halted their innings against England at 218 for four. “We’ve got a lot of confidence going into Saturday”.
England (possible): J Roy, A Hales, J Root, E Morgan (c), B Stokes, J Buttler (wkt), M Ali, C Woakes, A Rashid, L Plunkett, M Wood. “If we bring our A game we definitely will compete and Inshallah beat England”, he said.
He said, “I’ve said to the boys we’ve got absolutely nothing to lose”.
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The first is the distraction of the forthcoming tour of Bangladesh, with the players yet to decide whether to follow European Central Bank advice and make the trip.
