BBC SPORT | Special Events | 2001 | England v Pakistan

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew previews the second Test between England and Pakistan.

You would never have thought, by their decision to go to Blackpool for the day on Wednesday, that Pakistan were in the position of having to win this match to save the series.

It really is an extraordinary move.

I have certainly never known anything like it in 11 years of watching teams work their socks off on the day before the beginning of a Test match.

Maybe, just maybe, it is Pakistan's way of showing their unhappiness at the scheduling of their mini-tour and that the media spotlight was on the Australians' arrival in Worcester.

Whatever the reason - and I doubt that the players went day-tripping to Blackpool in order to buy sticks of rock - I doubt if it will make their job any easier over the next five days.

The weather forecast is grim - cold, wet and windy which suggests that a lot of time will be lost and the conditions anything but conducive to playing cricket.

Shoaib Akhtar bowling in the nets
Shoaib Akhtar could be a handful for England

Pakistan's selection will be interesting.

Their policy of playing five seam bowlers at Lord's was widely acknowledged to have been a mistake. Saqlain Mushtaq, the off spinner, must play here.

The pitch is hard, cracked and dry.

This suggests that there will be some pace and bounce for the quick bowlers and, as time goes, by, uneven bounce as well.

A spinner such as Saqlain should find some turn.

Throw in the damp weather conditions and you have the scenario in which Azhar Mahmood, who bowled so well at Lord's, Shoaib Akhtar and Saqlain all have reason not to be omitted.

However, one of Azhar and Shoaib will surely have to go not least because Saqlain causes tail-enders problems and it was the 84 runs added by England's lower order that really put the Pakistan batsmen under pressure in the first Test.

England's final decision is by no means cut and dried either.

It is pretty clear that one of Matthew Hoggard or Robert Croft will miss out but, for the same reasoning, both bowlers should be favoured by the conditions.

Matthew Hoggard takes a break at Old Trafford
Hoggard is hoping to win his second Test cap

Hoggard is probably the more deserving of the two as he had a promising tour last winter and would have played at Lord's in place of Ryan Sidebottom had he not been injured.

With strong shoulders and a high action, Hoggard should find some pace and bounce.

The abysmal recent record of England's spinners on this ground might well count against Croft.

He has had a particularly miserable time here, although his bravery with the bat did thwart South Africa's attempt to win in 1998.

Although Nasser Hussain is missing, it is difficult to envisage England making a mess of things in what will probably be a rain-affected match and a draw will be enough to ensure a fifth successive series win.