Pakistan A v England

“I don’t think the same bowling attack is going to play all the way through the series – because of the conditions and the overs bowlers might get through”.

“I’d say I’ve staked a claim, but I’d still be surprised if I played the first Test to be honest with you”, said Finn.

For fans booking corporate hospitality for the Edgbaston Test between England and Pakistan next summer, the three Tests in the UAE will have an extra resonance, as the two sides will no doubt build up a few rivalries and individual players will have points to prove by the time the teams meet again in different playing conditions to the heat of the Arabian Peninsula.

Finn’s opening burst set the tone, the tall fast bowler ending his first spell with excellent figures of 7-5-2-2.

England have opted to give their squad players a run out in the second two-day warm-up game with Pakistan A in a format that allows excluded players the chance to become involved. Three of those dismissals were the result of good-length balls that induced edges. Stewart, who had played 303 matches, also said that if the proper Pakistan team shows up then they would be a handful for England.

Pakistan A: Sami Aslam, Khurram Manzoor, Fawad Alam, Umar Amin, Ali Asad, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usman Salahuddin, Adnan Akmal (wk), Mohammad Asghar, Zafar Gohar, Junaid Khan (c), Ehsan Adil, Zia-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza.

It could have been even better for England had Cook held on to a two-handed catch high to his right at slip after Iftikhar edged the first ball of Stuart Broad’s second spell.

“The ball “reversed” a little bit – which is key for us”.

England (possible), v Pakistan A in Sharjah (starting at 7am BST): AN Cook (Captain), MM Ali, IR Bell, JWA Taylor, JM Bairstow, BA Stokes, JC Buttler (wkt), AU Rashid, SCJ Broad, ST Finn, JM Anderson.

He cited the drawn two-day game against the Pakistan A-team, which finished in Sharjah on Tuesday. And because Pakistan’s batting is stocked with right-handers, Patel may well feature before the end of this series.

England have one major selection issue to confirm, although it appears – after being given the first chance to impress alongside Cook at the top of the order – Moeen Ali is the preferred option ahead of the uncapped Alex Hales to do so too, for the first time, in next week’s first Test. They took it in turns though to field and lead the team.

Moeen and Mark Wood had provided the wickets as England made early inroads on this bowling day, after their 90 overs with the bat here, reducing the hosts to 32 for three by late morning. Last season only one batsman reached 1000 runs in their main first-class competition, with several playing more than 20 innings.