figures, but he and Azhar soon settled against bowling from corse178's blog
Match FactsAugust 3, Edgbaston Start time 11am (1000 GMT)The Big PictureEdgbaston is like our Gabba, Stuart Broad said last week. Cheap NHL Jerseys Free Shipping . After defeat at Lords, Englands confidence has soared again on the back of a thumping win at Old Trafford and now they arrive at a venue with good memories. They have won three of their last five Tests here by large margins, including last year when they reclaimed the lead in the Ashes, spurred on by the most vocal crowd in any English venue.But this series is still just 1-1. Old Trafford was the type of match Pakistan have not had to play in quite some time: asked to field first on a good batting pitch, with a four-man attack stretched to contain England. Yasir Shahs drastic change in fortunes meant Misbah-ul-Haq was always struggling to stem the flow of runs. Pakistans chances of pushing England in this match could well rest on the toss. Win it, put a decent score on the board and follow the Lords template.England will again have to cover for the absence of Ben Stokes after his calf injury. Chris Woakes form has meant that Stokes loss has not been as keenly felt as it might have been this summer, but his fiery pace bowling did add another dimension to the attack at Old Trafford before he went lame. His batting, although not especially required last time out because of Joe Roots epic 254, provides ballast amid a misfiring middle order that still has a lot of uncertainty about it.It will be those top-order batsmen outside of Root and Alastair Cook where much of the attention will be this week for England. The vulnerability - or at least uncertainty - of Alex Hales, James Vince and Gary Ballance remains the major weakness of this side and leaves much on the shoulders of the two senior batsmen. Ballance, on his return, has looked the most secure but Pakistans quicks appear to have the number of Hales and Vince having picked over their techniques.Given the size of victory at Old Trafford - and the fact they have a quorum of key players in form - if England get on top early they will be difficult to stop. However, in the likes of Yasir and Mohammad Amir, not to mention the steel of their captain, Pakistan have it them to strike back.Form guide(completed matches, most recent first) England WLDWW Pakistan LWWWDIn the spotlightPretty shots alone dont make a Test career. There is a strong desire, not least from coach Trevor Bayliss, for James Vince to make it as a Test batsman but so far there has been the occasional moment of style but very little substance. He had a perfect platform at Old Trafford to take advantage of good batting conditions yet once again fell to an edged drive - what has already become a signature dismissal. England will need to consider rebalancing their side when they get to the subcontinent, so time is running out for Vince to ensure he is not the fall guy should a batsman make way.Pakistan need their senior batsmen to lift. Younis Khans eccentric footwork remains a worry, but Azhar Alis form - scores of 7, 23, 1 and 8 - has also left the top order vulnerable, exposing Younis while the ball is still hard. He was the victim of a couple of tight lbw calls at Lords, but his first-innings dismissal at Old Trafford was limp - popping a return catch - and then he was beautifully set up by James Anderson in the second. He spent useful time in the middle against Worcestershire, making 81 against a modest attack, and at a time of questionable batting talent coming through for Pakistan they can ill-afford Azhar not to deliver.Team newsSteven Finn returns to the side to replace Stokes on the ground where he made his match-winning comeback against Australia last year. Cook said it was a tight call between him and Jake Ball: I was awake at 2am thinking about.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 James Vince, 5 Gary Ballance, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Steven Finn, 11 James AndersonSami Aslam, the 20-year-old batsman, is set to replace Shan Masood at the top of the order as Pakistan concede they cant accommodate Andersons bunny any longer. There may also be a change in the pace attack, with consideration being given to Sohail Khan replacing Wahab Riaz.Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Sami Aslam, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz/Sohail Khan, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Rahat AliPitch and conditionsThere was substantial rain over Monday night into Tuesday but the forecast for the game is good. Cook said that there was a decent covering of grass on the surface. In the County Championship this season, the pitches have ranged from the lively (against Somerset) to the dead (against Hampshire). It is not expected to break up as the game progresses.Stats and triviaThis will be Englands 500th Test match on home soil.Pakistan lost by nine wickets at this ground in 2010 after being bowled out for 72 in their first innings: the England pace attack was Anderson, Broad and Finn. Englands last defeat here was in 2008 against South Africa.Cook needs one century to reach 30 in Test cricket; Wahab needs two wickets for 50 and Rahat Ali four wickets for 50.The most wickets for an England bowler in a series against Pakistan is Andersons 23 in 2010 - Woakes currently has 18.QuotesHes going to be a danger, theres no doubt about that, and he will have learned from his experience up at Old Trafford, thats what happens when you have a tough game. Thats the beauty of a series. He can bounce back now and perhaps pose a different challenge but if we play him like we did at Old Trafford and have that same kind of game-plan we should play him better than at Lords. Alastair Cook knows England cant take their eye off the ball with Yasir ShahWe need to really improve. In the previous Test match we let them score heavily on the first two days and couldnt put pressure on them. Its difficult to come back from 600 runs but still we could have done better with the bat. We got starts, 20s, 30s and 40, but we need to go big. Misbah-ul-Haq wants bigger contributions from his batsmen Cheap Hockey Jerseys For Sale . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. NHL Jerseys From China .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. http://www.hockeyjerseyswholesale.com/ . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. Pakistanis 363 for 5 (Azhar 145, Misbah-ul-Haq 68, Younis 59, Archer 4-49) v SussexScorecardThis was a gentle day by the seaside for the Pakistanis. Azhar Ali made his second century in two innings as they eased to 363 for 5 while Misbah-ul-Haq spent useful time in the middle albeit against a weakened Sussex attack.Azhar, who reached his hundred from 205 balls, and Younis Khan added 125 for the third wicket. Azhar then put on a further 146 with Misbah; their three-figure stand came up when the Pakistan Test vice-captain swept a six over the roof of the pavilion at square-leg. The over-rate for the day was so good that the innings was only one short of the mandatory 100 overs by stumps.Sussex had only returned home at 3am following last nights T20 match against Glamorgan in Cardiff, so the five players from that fixture who were named in this XI could be forgiven for being a touch bleary-eyed.One of those who did not make the trek to Wales and back was debutant Jofra Archer, a former West Indies Under-19 allrounder with a British passport who is aiming to secure a full-time contract with Sussex, and he enjoyed a memorable first day in first-class cricket, finishing with 4 for 49 in a wholehearted display of nippy seam bowling. I hope Ive put my foot in the door, he said. The coach said just enjoy it, but I was a bit nervous.A telling part of the day came early on and reinforced that England will view Pakistans opening pair as a weak link to target. Shan Masood became Archers maiden first-class wicket when he struck with his 11th ball, finding a touch of extra bounce as he slanted the ball across the batsman to take the outside edge.Archers morning got better when he trapped Mohammad Hafeez, who had been dropped on 15, playing across a full delivery. This meant that Hafeezs first three innings on the tour had failed to produce a substantial score or substantial time in the middle.Pakistan would have been 53 for 3 had Azhar been taken low at second slip by Harry Finch, the drop denying club debutant, Abidine Sakande, a wicket. It was not, though, a day without good news for Sakande, who found out he had achieved a 2:1 in a Human Science degree from Oxford Uniiversity. Wholesale NHL Jerseys China. ounis escaped an inside edge past the stumps off Ajmal Shahzad before reaching double figures, but he and Azhar soon settled against bowling that, from the seamers other than Archer, veered far too frequently into the pads.A lapse in concentration, or the feeling that enough was enough, appeared the likely route to a wicket and so it proved during the afternoon session when Younis advanced at Danny Briggs but only picked out mid-off.During their innings, Younis and Azhar both passed milestones: 16,000 and 8,000 first-class runs respectively. That the junior partner has half felt quite apt; sooner rather than later the baton will be passed as the fulcrum of Pakistans batting.Azhars average outside of Asia is 28.70 compared with 52.36 in UAE, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh combined but he has the defensive technique to withstand Englands bowlers. This is a tour for him to cement his senior standing in the batting order in conditions he has found less comfortable.He was dropped again on 57 at deep mid-off, then on 72 an outside edge ran fine of first slip. He eventually brought up his century after tea with his 16th boundary from 205 balls.Misbah was not entirely convincing to begin with but in the final session settled into his familiar block-and-bash mode against the spinners as Briggs and Will Beer operated in tandem. He skewed one lofted shot against Briggs over mid-off then started to pick off Beer: it was a shame a young legspinner only bowled seven overs in the day, they have to bowl to learn. Misbahs fifty came off 65 balls when he swept Briggs for his ninth four. Moeen Ali will be in for a challenge if he has to bowl extended spells during the series.Sussex took the new ball as soon as it became available and in the fourth over, Archer claimed his third wicket of the day when Misbah padded up to a ball that would have taken off stump. Archer struck again when Azhar was late on a pull and was taken by the keeper. It is the mark of a promising bowler when his last spell of the day can be as good as the first. 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