After a surprisingly straightforward victory in the Ashes series this summer, England’s Test cricketers now face a much sterner test in their adopted home the United Arab Emirates.

Since being forced to relocate to the UAE in 2010 Pakistan have not lost a Test series, including trouncing England 3-0 on their previous visit. That series took place in the slightly cooler weather of January, but this time England will have to do battle in the ferocious October heat. It is a daunting prospect for England given their struggles against spin, particularly as they go into the series without a genuine world-class spinner of their own. Pakistan are priced as the 4/5 winners to win the series, with the visitors chalked up at 11/4. On the slow, low wickets of the Arabian desert the drawn series is available at 10/3.

Alastair Cook and his men are notorious slow starters in away Test series, and so it is no surprise to see Pakistan installed as strong favourites for tomorrow’s series opener at Abu Dhabi. The hosts are a shade of odds against at 6/5 to take the spoils, with their 25:10 quoted at 12.7-14.2. England are 2/1 shots, with a 25:10 quote of 9.4-10.9.



Pakistan have never lost at the Sheikh Zayed stadium, winning four of their last five here. This time last year they confidently despatched both Australia and New Zealand. The bizarre warm-up games England have played will have given little confidence to the batting line-up, and it would come as no surprise to see an almost traditional English collapse in the face of some challenging spin bowling.

Leading the spin attack for Pakistan will be leggie Yasir Shah, assuming he overcomes his slight injury concerns. Shah has burst on to the scene in the last year or so, taking 61 wickets in his first 10 tests and 34 wickets in his 5 tests of 2015. Shah bowler performance is quoted at 60-65, giving an indication of how dangerous our traders believe him to be. With a 25 point bonus on offer for a 5 wicket haul, Shah’s player performance quote of 140-150 may be of interest to those expecting to see the leg-spinner rip through the English middle order. Left arm offie Zulfiqar Babar could be Shah’s spinning accomplice in this first test, a potentially lethal combination. Babar bowler performance is quoted at 47-52, with his player performance quote on offer at 120-130.

England have a variety of spinning options themselves, although it is probably fair to suggest none of them command the same level of fear and respect as their Pakistani opponents. Moeen Ali has done a decent job with his steady off-spin, whilst the re-emergence of Adil Rashid and the possible return of Samit Patel bolstering the tweaking ranks. Moeen will almost certainly have to combine his spin bowling duties with opening the batting, a tremendous challenge in the brutal heat of the UAE. Ali player performance is pitched at 140-150, which may be of some interest given his potential to contribute with both bat and ball. His bowler performance alone is quoted at 36-41, with Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid available at the same price.



Once again the wise old heads of Younis Khan and Misbah ul-Haq will be the lynchpins of the Pakistan middle order, and two of the most important scalps for the English attack to take. Younis match runs are quoted at a team-high 84-91, with his Ton Ups available at 14-17. He is priced up as the 7/2 joint favourite to top score for the hosts in their first innings. Former captain Misbah will most likely fill his familiar 5 spot in the order, with his runs quoted at 77-84. The obdurate veteran has played superbly in the UAE since Pakistan’s relocation, and his Ton Ups quote of 10-13 may well attract some attention. For those who fancy him to top score in the first innings 4/1 is available.

For England Joe Root will once again be expected to lead the batting line up. The Yorkshireman has established himself as one of the outstanding batsmen in the world, a truly reassuring presence in the English middle order. It is absolutely no surprise to see Root runs quoted at 88-95, the highest quote of any batsman in this first test. Root Ton Ups are pitched at 15-18, and if he gets through his first half an hour or so at the crease it would be a brave man to oppose him. At 5/2 Root is a very firm favourite to top score for England in their first innings.

Root may well be the next England captain, but the current leader Alastair Cook showed signs over the summer of recovering his best form, and he’ll be hoping to continue that form here. As an opener Cook should at least have faced plenty of balls from the quicks before the spin barrage appears, if he is able to battle through the first hour or so. If Cook can get his eye in his match runs quote of 76-83 may well look on the low side, as could a Ton Ups price of 11-14. The skipper is the 7/2 second favourite for top run scorer honours.

As with all England series Spreadex have a wide range of special markets available. The ever popular ‘Rabbit Runs’ (total runs scored by batsmen coming in at number 11 in the series) is back, quoted at 53-59. Series stumpings are chalked up at 2.2-2.4, which given the number of overs expected to be bowled by the spinners could well be of interest. Series run outs are available at 2.1-2.3, which could also take your fancy given both teams struggles between the wickets in recent times. We have series runs quotes available for all the batsmen, series player performance quotes for the all-rounders and series bowler indices for the bowling attacks.

The action gets underway tomorrow morning, with the toss due at 6:30am UK time. Join us for the most comprehensive service across both spread and fixed odds markets. Let the duel in the desert commence!