[Lord Snooty]

England v Pakistan

The 4th Test Match

Thursday August 11th - Monday August 15th

at the Oval
starting at 11:00

Team news

Alastair Cook said England were "hoping" to play the same team, which would mean Adil Rashid and Jake Ball missing out again. James Vince has recovered from a finger injury sustained attempting to take a catch at Edgbaston but won't field in the slips.

England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 James Vince, 5 Gary Ballance, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Steven Finn, 11 James Anderson

Mickey Arthur hinted at various options for Pakistan's selection, with the need for a fifth bowler even more pressing in the second of back-to-back Tests. If Iftikhar Ahmed - who "bowls offspin and decently," according to Arthur - wins a Test debut, he would likely come into the side at Mohammad Hafeez's expense but bat in the middle order, with Azhar Ali asked to open. A rare four-Test series has increased the workload on Pakistan's pace bowlers and there may also be changes to the attack.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Mohammad Hafeez/Iftikhar Ahmed, 2 Sami Aslam, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Sohail Khan, 11 Rahat Ali/Wahab Riaz