The Pakistan Cricket Board will send its own curators to the UAE to supervise the preparation of pitches for the Test and one-day series against England next month. Pakistan’s former captain and coach, Intikhab Alam, has also been told to travel to Dubai and Abu Dhabi and inspect the preparation of pitches for the coming series in which three Tests, four ODIs and two T20 matches are scheduled to be played from January 17 onwards. “It is a home series for us which we are playing in the UAE. So it is our responsibility to see the preparation of pitches for the series,” a board official reported to have said. He said although there were qualified curators at the two venues but the PCB also wanted its own men to be involved in the process of preparing pitches.
The Pakistan team management had complained about the condition of the pitches in their recent series against Sri Lanka terming them as slow and sluggish. The England Cricket Board, which has already announced its Test squad, will be sending its players to the UAE in advance to get acclimatised to the conditions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and they have also scheduled two three-day warm up matches before the Test series starts. The series is being viewed with interest by the PCB since England is the number one Test team and if Pakistan does well against them, it could see a significant improvement in its rankings. The selection committee has also decided to delay the announcement of the Pakistan Test squad until the conclusion of the tour to Bangladesh.
England’s cricket team will reach Dubai early to get acquainted with the UAE conditions before their Test series against Pakistan and is likely to play against the Pakistan A team in a three-day practice match. According to Gulf News, plans are on to fly in the Pakistan ‘A’ team before the Pakistan Test squad. England will arrive on January 3 and play their first warm-up match on January 7 to 9. The second warm up match will be held from January 11 to 13. It is likely that a team made up of top players from non-Test playing countries, including the UAE, will play against England in one of the warm up matches. The venue and the squad will be announced shortly. England are keen to get acclimatised to the spinning wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and the Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Cricket Stadium before the start of the first Test match on January 17.
They have strengthened their spin attack by recalling Monty Panesar to back their off spinner Graeme Swann. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the Decision Review System (DRS) will be available during the Test series against England. The recent Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test series last October was played without the DRS system though PCB managed to introduce it for the One Day International series that followed the Test series. The PCB has got sponsorship from Pepsi to meet the cost of the DRS system. Pakistan and England will play three Test matches, four One-day matches and three Twenty20 matches within a span of 50-days. Pakistani cricket all-rounder Shahid Afridi believes that England series will be the ‘real test’ for Pakistan when they arrive in the UAE next month. On the eve of their Test series against Bangladesh, Pakistan have won every trophy that has been available to them since sharing the Tests against West Indies, in the Caribbean, last May. However, that has included success against lower-ranked opponents including Ireland, Zimbabwe and now a struggling Bangladesh.
Afridi won’t be part of the Test team having retired from the format but is back as a key member of the limited-overs outfits and is aware that the visit of England will be step up from their recent opposition. England are ranked number one in both Tests and Twenty20 although remain mid-table in 50-over cricket following their 5-0 whitewash against India. “Winning (throughout the year) gave us a momentum and moral is high. We have developed a winning unit but it will be exciting when we face England and that would be a real test. Playing against team like England or Australia is very exciting and then we will see where we stand,” Afridi said. Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistan coach, also believes the winning momentum will serve Pakistan well. “We are coming in with a lot of victories under our belt and every player is laden with confidence. But we have to be wary about our upcoming series against England. We definitely need to work harder in various departments,” he added.