Steven Finn to Miss First Test; Yasir Shah Doubtful

James Anderson gave England an early breakthrough, by unexpected means, on the first morning of their Test series against Pakistan.

They could hardly have been presented with a more exacting schedule than Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and on to South Africa to face the world’s number one team over Christmas and the new year.

A successful series will see England leapfrog Australia into second place in the Test rankings, but they do not always count for much, such as when they arrived in the UAE as No. 1 in 2012 only to leave with their tails between their legs.

“Yes, Yaser’s injury could be a big blow for us but we are hoping he will be okay tomorrow”.

“We think it is just a case of back spasms”.

“Yes, we’ve got to play a few awesome cricket over the next 15 days to put Pakistan under pressure, we realise that”.

England captain Alastair Cook stated that it was tough on Finn to miss out on playing the first Test but is hoping that the fast bowler can be fit for the second game. Though Yasir Shah has not yet been ruled out of the first Test match, and a final decision on fielding him or not shall be taken before the match begins on Tuesday.

ALASTAIR COOK is backing Adil Rashid to make a positive impact during England’s three-Test series against Pakistan, with the Yorkshire leg-spinner poised for his long-awaited Test debut today. But after impressing in the One-Day and Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe this year, Malik is now keen to prove he can still deliver the goods in the Test format.

“I’m really excited about what’s going to happen”, he added. We have options to go for and a side willing to take on that challenge. “Hopefully that will stand us in good stead”, Anderson was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“You can lose games of cricket in a short space of time”.

He has hoarded knowledge from his last trip, but insists history will count for nothing when the battle resumes.

“We want to improve on the performances from the summer”.

The knack will be striking a balance between attack and defence, and choosing the right moment for each.

“It’s not going to be crash, bang, wallop like it was in the (Ashes), because of the natural pace of the game”.

If Yasir continues to perform the way he has been in the last few series, England will be in real trouble. When you see someone (Adil Rashid) who has worked so hard to get back in the squad and do so well, it’s fantastic. The guys are aware of that.

The latter was one of only two batsmen - back-to-form Ian Bell the other - to convince in a desultory England innings which accrued 198 runs for the loss of 11 wickets, in reply to the hosts’ 192-12, in a match devoted to the tourists’ Test preparation.