London, Aug. 25: England will undergo another searching examination at the hands of an increasingly potent Pakistan attack in the final test starting at Lord’s on Thursday. Pakistan, who drew 1-1 with Australia earlier in the season, can level the four-match series 2-2 if they win at Lord’s after twice exposing the England batting in their third-test victory at the Oval last week.
England captain Andrew Strauss accepted on Wednesday his side was guilty of mistakes in the third test, and said he and his team mates “want to put those right this week”.
“I think there is a really nice determined atmosphere about the group because we feel we may have a point to prove again, and that’s a good state of mind to be in,” Strauss said.
Inevitably, the series is being viewed in the context of England’s Ashes defence starting in Brisbane on Nov. 25, although conditions in Australia will bear no resemblance to the autumnal weather predicted for Lord’s in the last test of the summer. England’s priority will be to win at a venue where they have won or drawn nine consecutive tests since losing to Australia in 2005.
The weather throughout the current series has favoured the bowlers, and Pakistan’s attack looks at the moment to be the best balanced in world cricket.
Mohammad Asif’s late movement from a probing length has delighted the connoisseurs of swing and seam and evoked comparisons with Australian Terry Aldermann and New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee, who both proved deadly in English conditions.