England turn to spin trio for series decider with Pakistan

England have picked a trio of spinners for the decisive third Test against Pakistan, after their first sight of the pitch for the game revealed that not only had it been blasted with hot air from an array of patio heaters whipped down the wicket by a pair of industrial fans, but it was "pretty obvious that there's been a few rakes put across it." The resulting scratches are concentrated on the areas their spinners are likely to pitch the ball.

- Simon Burnton

The team held their first training session in Rawalpindi yesterday, giving them an initial glimpse of the playing surface. "There's not too much grass to hold everything together," Ben Stokes, the captain, said. "It's pretty obvious there's been a few rakes put across it. It will be interesting to see how it goes. You'd think a rake would assist the spin. You look down the pitch and we can have a pretty good guess which ends the Pakistan spinners will operate from."

Stokes, who reiterated that he had no issue with Pakistan's attempts to manipulate the pitch to their advantage, said that while there was clear evidence of raking at both ends, "there are certain areas" where it has been concentrated. These are seen as being intended to assist Pakistan's spin duo, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, who took all 20 English wickets in the second Test last week.