Here, The Cricketer presents our best XI, made out of the players available to both sides. Do you agree? Where have we gone wrong? Let us know your selections in the comments section...
The English Test summer opens its doors next summer, with Pakistan the visitors to Lord's.
After a difficult winter, England will be hoping to find form as quickly as possible at the Home of Cricket.
Here, The Cricketer presents our best XI, made out of the players available to both sides. Do you agree? Where have we gone wrong? Let us know your selections in the comments section below.
Matches: 154
Innings: 279
Not Outs: 16
Runs: 12,028
High Score: 294
Average: 45.73
100s/50s: 32/55
Despite his relative struggles in Australia and New Zealand over the winter, Alastair Cook remains a mainstay on the England team sheet, the sheer weight of his runs and experience crucial for a wobbly batting line-up.
Indeed, the position should be his until he feels it is time to hang his boots up and he, therefore, easily makes this line-up.
Cook has started the domestic season well enough with scores of 84, 0, 26, 37 and 66 and his composure and patience will be required as England attempt to register their first Test win since September.
Matches: 62
Innings: 118
Not Outs: 8
Runs: 5129
High Score: 302*
Average: 46.62
100s/50s: 14/27
It is fair to say that he has not had the best time of it in his travels so far on the Emerald Isle but Azhar Ali’s undoubted class makes him the best candidate to partner Cook in this XI.
Boasting an average of 46 and with 14 Test centuries to his name, Ali has all the pedigree alongside a compact technique to stand him in good stead for the moving ball in English conditions.
He also brings with him a wealth of experience, not only in general but also in English conditions as his 295 runs and innings of 139 at Edgbaston in 2016 attest to.
Joe Root
Matches: 58
Innings: 97
Not Outs: 6
Runs: 3614
High Score: 137
Average: 39.71
100s/50s: 11/18
Despite Joe Root’s shift up the order for England, Asad Shafiq gets the nod at three.
Currently ranked No.25 in the Test batting rankings, Shafiq also has good memories of playing in England with his 109 in the fourth Test in 2016 paving the way, alongside Younis Khan’s mammoth double hundred, for the drawn series result and his country’s assent to the top of the world rankings.
Now, without veterans Younis and Misbah-al-Haq, Shafiq has taken on increased importance in a fresh looking Pakistani batting order and his contributions in the coming series will be vital if his side are to get anything out of the English visit.
Matches: 67
Innings: 123
Not Outs: 12
Runs: 5843
High Score: 254
Average: 52.63
100s/50s: 13/39
Questions about his conversion rate struggles and his lean time of it against Essex and Surrey over the past fortnight aside, Joe Root is undoubtedly one of the elite batsmen in world cricket and his place as captain in this side is a given.
Root, like most of the England team, struggled over the winter with his struggle to make a lasting impression with a big hundred and so his focus against Pakistan will be on leading from the front as he tries to engineer his third Test series win as captain.
On the slower, more familiar pitches of home expect Root to churn out his 14th Test hundred in the upcoming series.
Matches: 12
Innings: 21
Not Outs: 0
Runs: 650
High Score: 140
Average: 30.95
100s/50s: 1/6
In an otherwise hugely disappointing winter, Dawid Malan was the one bright spark. His fight, durability and patience in the face of extremely hostile bowling proved his international temperament and established him in England’s middle order for the medium-term at the very least.
He’s started modestly for Middlesex this season but, nonetheless, will be looking to rediscover his form from down under against Pakistan come May 24.
Jonny Bairstow
Matches: 41
Innings: 73
Not Outs: 1
Runs: 2532
High Score: 258
Average: 35.16
100s/50s: 6/13
Wickets: 95
Average: 34.13
BBI/BBM: 6/22 and 8/161
Economy: 3.35
5 wicket hauls/10 wicket hauls: 4/0
He has had an eventful time of it over the past eight months outside the game and his current stint in the Indian Premier League has been a polar opposite to that which earned him the title of MVP (Most Valuable Player) in the 2017 tournament on the subcontinent. His last Test appearance, against New Zealand in March, also showed signs of rust but it is impossible to leave Stokes out.
The England all-rounder is as box office as they come and, once he is able to find his playing rhythm once again, he will bounce back with the performances we are used to seeing from him.
At No.6 he also provides England, and this eleven, with much needed balance and he is by far and away the best allrounder in the two teams.
Matches: 52
Innings: 90
Not Outs: 6
Runs: 3293
High Score: 167*
Average: 39.20
100s/50s: 5/17
Catches/stumpings: 138/8
He could be played on his batting alone, and perhaps England will do that, but Jonny Bairstow’s glovework has also come on a treat over the last 18 months to make him the premier wicketkeeper batsman in the world game over five days.
Not only this but his one day performances have forced him into the England starting line-up ahead of the World Cup on home soil this year too. 101 last time out on England Test duty and 95 in Yorkshire’s defeat at The Oval show that he is in fine fettle and he will be one of the first names on the England teamsheet for Lord’s.
Matches: 23
Innings: 39
Not Outs: 9
Runs: 846
High Score: 66
Average: 28.20
100s/50s: 0/4
Wickets: 60
Average: 35.53
BBI/BBM: 6/70 and 11/102
Economy: 3.08
5 wicket hauls/10 wicket hauls: 2/1
Horses for courses selection this as Woakes’ away performances in Australia and New Zealand have not exactly merited him worthy of inclusion for England come May 25 nor this XI.
His record in England, especially his superb summer in 2016, highlights his danger with a swinging ball in typical English conditions and for this reason he gets the nod.
Despite a bad winter, Woakes remains a massive threat with ball and bat in hand and he could prove a vital asset against Pakistan once they have seen off the new-ball duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad and once they have also seen off the top seven in the England batting line-up.
Shadab Khan
Matches: 1
Innings: 2
Wickets: 1
Average: 145.00
BBI/BBM: 1/90 and 1/145
Economy: 3.62
5 wicket hauls/10 wicket hauls: 0/0
Pakistan’s spin option, Shadab Khan, despite being a new face on the block, sneaks his way into the side with Jack Leach injured.
Shadab has proved a decent threat in the Irish tour games and against Ireland, notching up 15 wickets in three games to press giving him some decent form heading into the England series.
England’s spin bowling options are limited right now as it is with Moeen Ali’s lack of form, Mason Crane and Jack Leach’s injury woes and and Dom Bess of Somerset making his first appearance in a Test squad.
Matches: 30
Innings: 56
Wickets: 95
Average: 32.87
BBI/BBM: 6/44 and 7/64
Economy: 2.91
5 wicket hauls/10 wicket hauls: 4/0
Perhaps controversially, there is no place for Stuart Broad in the side as Mohammad Amir pips him to share the new ball with England’s leading Test wicket-taker James Anderson.
The leader of the Pakistani attack, Amir makes the side largely because of his impressive record in England, 31 wickets at an average of 27 making up nearly a third of all his wickets in Test matches.
Amir’s potent pace and swing combination make him a deadly combination in a late May Test match at Lord’s and so he is tipped for success against England despite his relative lack of it in the Irish warm-up fixtures. Mohammad Abbas can also count himself unlucky as his lightning start to international cricket has continued in earnest in Ireland.
Matches: 136
Innings: 253
Wickets: 531
Average: 27.36
BBI/BBM: 7/42 and 11/71
Economy: 2.89
5 wicket hauls/10 wicket hauls: 25/3
James Anderson, naturally, leads the attack in this line-up.
The bleach blonde barnet is gone, thankfully, and so too is any early season rust for the Lancashire man as he returned six wickets against Nottinghamshire after having only secured a single scalp against Somerset in his side’s opening championship fixture.
Anderson should receive plenty of assistance from an early season Lord’s pitch and, with the Pakistani batsmen not known for their ability to deal with swing bowling, the ‘Burnley Lara’ could reap handsome rewards against the tourists.
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