After a short break in Abu Dhabi with their families following a chastening tour of India, England got their Champions Trophy preparations up and running on Wednesday with an intense three-hour practice session in the Gaddafi Stadium complex.
For a white-ball collective who were called out publicly in India for an apparent lack of hard work in the nets, everyone was fit and available to be put through their paces at the national academy ground next to the redeveloped stadium where they will open their Champions Trophy campaign against Australia on Saturday.
The sight of armed guards and security checkpoints surrounding this venue is a reminder of what happened here back in 2009, when the Sri Lanka team bus was attacked by terrorists on the roundabout that sits outside the main entrance to Gaddafi Stadium on the third morning of their second Test against Pakistan.
It was a dark moment for Pakistani cricket, with the team exiled from their homeland for almost a decade afterwards due to the security concerns that made it impossible for overseas sides to visit.
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Read MoreIts’ why this Champions Trophy, the first major tournament to be held in Pakistan since the 1996 World Cup, is such a landmark moment for the country.
It might also prove significant for Brendon McCullum’s tenure as England coach, with the New Zealander now in charge across all formats having revived the fortunes of the Test team since taking on that particular job in the summer of 2022.
Things have not started well for McCullum in his white-ball role, with the tour of India seeing England lose seven and win just one of their eight matches across the T20 and 50-over formats.
It means expectations for this tournament are at rock bottom.
Another disappointing few weeks here would potentially be damaging for the rest of a massive year that includes huge Test series against India and Australia.
For a man who makes the most of positive vibes, McCullum could do without the impending sense of doom surrounding English cricket right now being exacerbated by another limp tournament exit following the twin T20 and ODI World Cup over the space of nine months that cost previous white-ball coach Matthew Mott to lose his job last summer.
Getting out of a group containing the Australians, Afghanistan and South Africa to reach the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy should be enough to inject some much-needed positivity into a so-far horrendous year for English cricket that also saw the women’s team humbled in Australia.
England certainly have the talent to put together a run in this tournament. But there are still a few selection issues they need to resolve ahead if they are to hit the ground running in Pakistan.
The squad is strong. McCullum and captain Jos Buttler just need to ensure they put the right pieces of the jigsaw together to come up with a winning formula.
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Read MoreBen Duckett, back in training on Wednesday following a groin injury, and Phil Salt are a lock after doing okay in India, the opening pair providing starts but failing to go on. Joe Root will move back up to No 3 after Tom Banton came in there for the final ODI in India last week to bolster the batting.
Harry Brook, who’s plundered runs in his previous visits to this country for England and in the Pakistan Super League, will hope for an upturn in form at No 4, while Buttler will stay at five.
The good news for England is that Jamie Smith is fit to return after missing all three India ODIs with a calf injury. Expect him to bat at seven and keep wicket, with Salt relinquishing the gloves.
Liam Livingstone, whose spin bowling helps balance the team, should be at six. It’s then down to the bowlers.
Adil Rashid, England’s greatest-ever white-ball spinner, is a certainty.
Then expect a pace attack that should be better suited to the flatter, quicker Pakistani wickets than they were in India to round off the XI. The good news is 2019 World Cup-winning pair Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are set to feature in an ODI together for the first time in almost two years.
The final spot then comes down to a choice between Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Saqib Mahmood and Gus Atkinson.
Mahmood has done well since coming back into the team in India but tailed off in the final two ODIs. Atkinson’s form on that tour was non-existent and Overton primarily impressed in the T20s.
Carse, who enjoyed an outstanding debut Test series in Pakistan last October, is the favourite at this stage if he can shake off a toe niggle that required stitches this week.
He bowled in the nets on Wednesday at about 75 per cent and England are hopeful he’ll be fit for Saturday. If he isn’t, it comes down to a straight choice between Overton and Mahmood.
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