England in their own patch are usually a formidable lot. The conditions suit their type of seam and swing bowlers and being used to playing on pitches at home, they find little or no problem while taking on the opposition.

In the recently concluded series of five Tests which England won 3-2, the visiting Australians found to their own peril how effective the English bowlers could be when the ball starts to wobble in the air or seam beyond belief.

Lack of skill in such situations, especially in the English conditions, can make life difficult even for the most experienced batsmen. The Australians no doubt discovered it too late to come to terms with men like James Anderson, the only Englishman to take over 400 wickets and a very steady bowler, and his partners Stuart Broad and Steven Finn.

It was quite an embarrassing series from the Australian point of view. With Test matches finishing inside three days and in just over two and a half days, their supporters were short changed and so were those who turned up to back England.

In fact, I must admit here that this was the most disappointing Ashes series I ever covered or witnessed.

In the fourth Test at Trent-Bridge, where England sealed the series, Australia were bowled out before lunch on the first day for only 67 after facing just 111 deliveries.

By the time I walked into the ground, Michael Clarke’s men were five wickets down for only 21 runs. Incredibly beyond belief it was to see the Aussie batsmen getting themselves caught in the slip cordon as they chased Broad’s exaggerated movement off the pitch. That he finished with 8 for 15 was no surprise at all.

In the midst of that glorious summer for England, the analysts and the critics, having known the fate of The Ashes would time and again mention Pakistan and the series ahead for Alistair Cook’s men in the UAE.

None of them disagreed that Pakistan could be a tough nut to crack on UAE pitches and that exhibition of match-winning spells by English fast bowlers at home may not serve them well on the slow pitches there since seam and swing is never so prominent in those conditions.

Having watched England perform first hand during the summer against Australia, I feel that their series against Pakistan could turn out to be as tough as they experienced in their last encounter in UAE, when Pakistan whitewashed them.

Knowing how pitches behave in UAE, England in anticipation have picked Adil Rashid, a right-arm leg-spinner who does not impress me at all because he bowls with a high trajectory and looks more like a finger spinner than a wrist spinner.

He has not been a big success anyway even on home pitches. Another spinner, a left-arm orthodox from Surrey called Zafar Ansari is also in the squad but he may not make it for the tour because of a recent injury.

The third slow bowler is, of course, Moeen Ali who is a steady off-spinner. Although there is nothing extra ordinary about the player, he certainly maintains a good line and gives flight which, combined with his ability to bat in the late order, makes him a very useful member of the team.

Despite the Ashes win, England batting is hugely suspect. Only Cook and Joe Root really make the grade. Ian Bell failed last time in the UAE and has not been in good form of late.

Jose Butler, Johnnie Bairstow and Ben Stokes are not consistent with the bat and do not relish short deliveries, nor does Moeen. They could be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea if Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar bowl as well as they have done in the last few series.

Pakistan’s batting comparatively is more solid and with Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Ahmed Shahzad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez and Shan Masood in the side, England bowlers would no doubt have a tough task at hand.

William Hill and Ladbrokes, the bookmakers, not surprisingly make Pakistan 4/5 favourites to beat England. I can’t really dispute that.

Misbah and his men therefore should relax and try not to lose sleep over what they will be up against in few weeks time.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2015

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