London, Aug. 17: England captain Andrew Strauss believes the final two Tests against Pakistan could provide his bowlers with a vital challenge ahead of the Ashes against Australia. The placid batting surfaces usually provided by The Oval and Lord’s should be similar to the conditions England are expected to face in Australia when the Ashes begins on November 25.

Strauss predicted a ‘different style of match’ at The Oval when the third Test against Pakistan gets under way on Wednesday. England easily won the first two Tests to stretch their winning streak to six Tests. A series whitewash against Pakistan would give them a national record of eight consecutive wins.

However, Pakistan proved in their second innings at Edgbaston that England’s bowlers may not be as potent when the ball does not swing. Having been bowled out for 72 in the first innings, Pakistan reached 296 in the second, leaving Stuart Broad so frustrated with the situation at one stage that he threw the ball at Pakistan batsman Zulqarnain Haider.

“It was a timely lesson that you’ll never have everything your own way,” Strauss said on Tuesday.

“Sometimes you’ll have to do the hard yards to get on top of sides.

“The Oval and Lord’s are usually pretty good batting wickets. Overhead conditions play a part, but there may be a different style of match — runs on the board and scoreboard pressure — rather than the ball nipping about all over the place.”

Pakistan are expected to recall Mohammed Yousuf, their third-highest scoring batsman ever in Tests. He was too jetlagged to play at Edgbaston after flying in a day before.

“He was looking really good at Worcester (on Friday) and once he starts playing Test matches, his match fitness will return as he has not played the longer version for seven months,” captain Salman Butt said.

Yousuf is likely to replace Umar Amin (averaging 12 from his eight Test innings on the England tour) or Azhar Ali. Left-arm paceman Wahab Riaz should come in for fast bowler Umar Gul, who was ruled out of the series after tearing a hamstring at Edgbaston, while Zulqarnain’s broken finger will allow Kamran Akmal to return, despite making two ducks and keeping wicket poorly in the first Test.
“With the experience that (Kamran) has and with the performances in the past that he has shown to us, we all hope that he will come out and show some character and do well,” Butt added. “Maybe this unfortunate thing that has happened to Zulqarnain could do wonders for Kamran. It just takes one big performance for a good player to be back.”
The match will be the first occasion the teams have met in a Test at the venue since the infamous forfeited clash of 2006 when then Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq’s team did not return to the field after the tea interval in protest at being penalised for ball tampering.
The incident became one of cricket’s biggest controversies that ended weeks later with an independent tribunal finding Pakistan innocent of ball tampering, but banning Inzamam for bringing the game into disrepute.
Teams: England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn.
Pakistan (from): Salman Butt (captain), Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif, Umar Amin, Raza Hasan, Yasir Hameed.