Pietersen (left) and skipper Strauss share a joke in training

Andrew Strauss has tipped out-of-form England batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook to prove their worth in the second Test against Pakistan.

Pietersen has passed 50 on only five occasions in his last 22 Test innings, while Strauss's opening partner Cook has scored 79 runs in five innings.

"Players of the quality of KP always come back and Cookie has made some good adjustments," said captain Strauss.

England lead the four-match series 1-0 ahead of Friday's Edgbaston Test.

Strauss's men impressed in their 354-run win in the first contest at Trent Bridge last week, so the squad is unchanged for the second encounter.

Pakistan skipper Salman Butt said on Thursday evening that controversial former captain Mohammad Yousuf would not play.

The batsman had quit international cricket in March in protest at his suspension after last winter's Australia tour but was persuaded to return after Pakistan's crushing defeat on Sunday.

However, he only arrived in England around 1500 BST on Thursday after a long flight from Lahore via Karachi and Dubai and believes he needs several more days of practice, citing the third Test at The Oval, starting on 18 August, as a more likely target.

Pakistan will make two changes to their side, though. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal is dropped following his poor performance at Trent Bridge and replaced by Test debutant Zulqarnain Haider, 24.

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is replaced by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, and not Raza Hasan, who was called into the squad at the same time as Yousuf.

England convincingly won the first Test, although they had been reduced to 98-6 in the second innings before Matt Prior's century helped the home side establish a comfortable lead which Pakistan failed to chase down.

Eoin Morgan also scored a ton in the first innings, but left-hander Cook managed only 20 runs in total while Pietersen fared little better with 31 runs.

"He's been really good this week, he feels like he wants to get that score but we're very happy with what he's doing and he will come right," Strauss said of 30-year-old Pietersen.

606: DEBATE England will be pleased with the progress they are making, the slip fielding is at its best, Anderson looked at his best, Prior and Morgan are producing at the right time but there is still big room for improvement with the Ashes coming up Amir Mir

"You always want to get that score on the board and prove you're as good a player as everybody thinks you are.

"We all go through it, you're not human if you don't go through a poor run of form at some time."

Cook's last substantial innings came against Bangladesh in Dhaka, when he hit an unbeaten 109.

"It was only a few Tests ago that he was getting a hundred," he said of the 25-year-old.

"You can get too focused on a couple of bad innings."

The third Test begins at The Oval on Wednesday 18 August and the final Test is at Lord's, beginning on Thursday 26 August.

Meanwhile, Strauss is urging spectators at Edgbaston to donate money to an emergency fund for those affected by the floods in Pakistan.

More than 1,400 people are estimated to have died in the disaster in northern Pakistan, with at least 2.5m others badly affected.

British Red Cross volunteers will be collecting in the crowd tomorrow and on Saturday and Sunday.

England (from): Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan.

Pakistan: Salman Butt (capt), Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Zulqarnain Haider (wkt), Mohammad Amir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif.

Umpires: M Erasmus (SA) and S Davis (Aus)

Third umpire: T Hill (NZ)

Match referee: R Madugalle (SL)

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