Former England captain Alec Stewart thinks that Pakistan will have an advantage over England as the UAE pitches will favour them when both sides take on each other in the four-Test series starting from October 13.
“It will be tough. Pakistan have a good record there,” said Alec Stewart, while talking to PakPassion.
“England went there a few years ago and got beaten three nil. I would expect the pitches to be full of spin and I don’t expect the pitches to have any help for the pace bowlers. So Pakistan will start as favourites and they are a good side. Although it can never be said with confidence about what Pakistan team will turn up. However, if the proper Pakistan team shows up then they will be a handful for England who are an emerging side and one that is getting better and better.
“They are a young and talented side but it will be hard work for them. I can see that there will be a lot of spin and we will need to see who can deal with spin better, England or Pakistan? It will be a good series and it would have been more interesting if Mohammad Amir had been selected. If he had been selected and started to bowl anything like how he had bowled when he emerged onto the international scene then he could have surely enhanced the quality of the Pakistan eleven.”
Stewart reminisced his days of visiting Pakistan to play cricket and thinks it’s a shame that the country is being deprived of the international matches.
“It is always interesting to visit new places but it is a real shame that no cricket is happening in Pakistan due to reasons which are well documented. It’s a shame because Pakistanis are so passionate about the game,” said the 52-year-old.
“Whether you are at the cricket ground, at the hotel, a restaurant or walking down the street the people want to take their pictures with you and talk cricket with you. The game of cricket is almost like a second religion for them and that’s why I have a real sympathy towards the Pakistani public that they are not seeing first hand international cricket at home because that’s what they and everyone else wants.
“As for my experience of visiting Pakistan, it was always interesting whether it was the journey from the airport to the hotel or trying to get to the ground on time and those types of things that can happen in the sub-continent. At times you almost wanted to get angry as it hadn’t worked out quite like how you wanted it to be but then you thought, why? This is how it is so live as you are in Pakistan, India or Sri Lanka and that’s how it needs to be. I really enjoyed my time there and the thing that I really recall is the passion that the Pakistani public have for cricket. Not just for their own cricketers but for world cricket and visiting teams as well.”
Stewart also talked about Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, the latter being his teammate at Surrey.
