England ready for "exciting challenge" posed by Pakistan, says James Anderson

England haven't played a Test in Pakistan since December 2005 while their hosts have lost just once in their past eight Tests on home soil

Elizabeth Botcherby | 29/11/2022 at 11:45

England are "chomping at the bit" ahead of their three-match Test series in Pakistan, according to bowler James Anderson.

Brendon McCullum's side haven't played a Test in Pakistan since December 2005, an innings-and-100-run defeat in Lahore. Anderson was a member of that squad but did not feature in any of the Tests, instead playing tour matches and ODIs.

Seventeen years later, England have finally returned, with matches scheduled to take place in Rawalpindi (December 1-5), Multan (December 9-13) and Karachi (December 17-21) as part of the 2021-23 World Test Championship cycle.

A side on the up, England have won six matches from a possible seven under McCullum, including series wins over New Zealand and South Africa, with the head coach ushering in a new era of positive, aggressive cricket.

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^{This is England's first away series of the McCullum-Stokes era [Matthew Lewis/Getty Images]}

However, they are aware of the threat posed by Pakistan, particularly on home soil where they have won three of their past four series and lost just once in their past eight Tests.

"[We are] really excited," Anderson said. "Especially after the summer we had in Test cricket, we felt like we were building something, and we want to keep that kind of momentum building and to be a part of that in the summer was amazing.

"Different conditions, different to what we will have experienced before as a group: it's a really exciting challenge and I think all of us are just chomping at the bit.

"I'm happy to be back in Pakistan. We will try to play aggressive cricket here. Our focus will be to put pressure on Pakistan and win the series. Pakistan are a very good side at home. We need to plan strongly and play good cricket against them."

England's squad for the series is an interesting mix of familiar faces and players trying to force their way into the side, with Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Liam Livingstone and 18-year-old Leicestershire allrounder Rehan Ahmed among the 16-strong travelling party.

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^{England haven't played a Test match in Pakistan since December 2005 [Stu Forster/Getty Images]}

Stuart Broad, meanwhile, is a notable absentee, with the bowler missing the series following the birth of his first child. Instead, the pace attack consists of Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Jamie Overton, Mark Wood and Ben Stokes while Jack Leach will receive support from a number of part-time spinners, and Anderson believes England's attack is more than capable of taking 20 wickets per match.

"We're trying to make sure we [the bowlers] have all bases covered for every eventuality and make sure we know what fields we might set, talking specifics about their batters as well and trying to work out plans for them," he said.

"But I think, at this level, it's happened for a few years in the Test team in particular where we, I wouldn't say we're self-sufficient, but we do look after each other, and we've got great analysts.

"We've got great coaches all around us and some of the best captains the world has ever seen in our group, so we can pick their brains as well and we feel like we've got what it takes to take 20 wickets in each Test match."