The Cricketer runs down the who, what, where, when, why, which channel and how wet will it be for the first match of this Test series...
England will face Pakistan in the first of three Tests as the second half of the international red-ball summer begins.
The Test starts on August 5 at 11am (BST).
The game will be played at Emirates Old Trafford, the venue of England’s wins in the second and third Tests over West Indies last month.
England have decisions to make after naming an unchanged squad from the one that played so well in the final Test of the series against West Indies. With Ben Stokes not fit to bowl in that game, Joe Root opted to move up the order and leave out Zak Crawley in order to pack his bowling stocks.
Whether he opts for that strategy again, should concern remain over Stokes, time will tell, but it would be some risk against a fine Pakistani bowling attack. Should they revert to their norm, with Crawley at No.3 Root at No.4, the dilemma will revolve around a cartel of seamers, with James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Sam Curran all effectively fighting it out for three slots – if England choose to play a specialist spinner Dom Bess.
It is an intriguing choice that England face, tempered somewhat by the fact that the short turnaround between games will breed a need for rotation in any case.
Who lines up at Emirates Old Trafford, however, is anyone’s guess.
For Pakistan, there are also several options. Head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has already hinted that he could be tempted to plump for two spinners – he has Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah and Kashif Bhatti in an enlarged 20-man squad.
“We will keep an eye on the pitch and the weather conditions, today and tomorrow, before taking a decision on whether to play two spinners or not," said Misbah. "It is a possibility and an encouraging sign for us.
“The pitch and weather conditions might be favouring us at the moment but you still have to execute your plans properly to win,” he explained.
One assumes that Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi will form the crux of a high-class seam attack, though the experienced Wahab Riaz and fellow left-armer Usman Shinwari are also options.
England squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. Reserves: James Bracey, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Dan Lawrence
Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam ul Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah
Stuart Broad took his 500th wicket in his last Test
In short, no. England and Pakistan's first Test at Emirates Old Trafford is still scheduled to go ahead despite the latest batch of coronavirus restrictions in place in Greater Manchester.
Separate households are now barred from meeting each other at home in the metropolitan area, east Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire.
But with both squads self-contained in a bio-secure bubble, the ECB are confident the new rules will not affect the match, which gets underway on Wednesday, August 5.
West Indies played three Tests against Joe Root's team earlier this month in identical circumstances and it is hoped the Pakistan series - which moves to The Ageas Bowl for the second and third Tests - will pass without major incident.
The government confirmed the fresh regulations would take effect from midnight on Friday, July 31.
Barring the possibility of some showers on the first morning, the forecast looks favourable in Manchester.
The games will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 1.30pm BST on Wednesday.
Sky Sports Main Event is a subscription service available on channel 401 on Sky, channel 402 and channel 437 (HD) on BT TV, channel 401 on TalkTalk TV, and channels 501 (HD) and 401 on Virgin Media.
Sky also offer a streaming service - Sky Go - for subscribers.
The game will be covered by BBC Test Match Special on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra (digital radio, digital satellite channel 0144, Freeview channel 706, cable TV channels 864 or 908) and BBC Radio 4 (194 long wave, digital satellite channel 0143).
The Cricketer's social media channels will have updates throughout the day, with reaction to follow via our website after play has concluded.
In India, Pakistan and other subcontinent countries, the match will be available to watch on Sony Six and Sony ESPN.
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