England Cricket Team Arrive Early in UAE for Warm Ups
England cricket team will take on an Associate Nations XI and a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) representative XI as part of an extensive warm-up ahead of the first Test against Pakistan, scheduled to begin in Dubai from Jan 17.
England cricketers arrive in the UAE on Jan 3, some two weeks ahead of the first Test, and will take on the two sides in three-day games in Dubai ahead of what is shaping up to be among the most anticipated series in the New Year.
England’s rise to top of Test rankings has been built in considerable part on precisely this kind of meticulous preparation ahead of Test matches.
Two warm-up games are evidence of that, helping them to acclimatize to the conditions that are likely to be testing and unfamiliar for them.
“The first game, from January 7-9, will be against a team of players drawn from top associate nations,” an official familiar with itinerary said on Friday. “Players can be taken from Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Kenya, Canada or Afghanistan.
Availability of players is being confirmed before the squad is announced.” There is also likely to be at least one, if not two players from UAE.
The second three-day game, against a PCB XI, is scheduled from Jan 11-13, also in Dubai. It is expected Pakistan will call in seven leading players (outside of those selected for the series) and mix them up with some national team players for a Combined XI.
On the other hand, Pakistan are on their own upswing. Contests between the two sides have rarely lacked excitement, drama or controversy in modern age; their last series in 2010 was a particularly spicy affair, with the infamous spot-fixing scandal taking world cricket by storm.
The two-month tour includes three Tests, four One-day Internationals and three Twenty20 games. England will also take on the England Lions in Abu Dhabi in a 50-over game to prepare for the ODI series, starting from Feb 13.
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