England commence summer schedule with Pakistan test

England get their summer underway with the visit of Pakistan for the first of a two Test series.

Joe Root’s side go to Lord’s to first five-day clash as 1/2 favourites.

The tourists are 4/1, as is the draw.

As for the series, England are 4/9, Pakistan 7/1 and the draw 11/4.

Pakistan head to London having beaten Ireland by five wickets in the Emerald Isle’s first ever Test match.

And they held England to a 2-2 draw during a four-Test clash back in 2016.

The big news ahead of this opening match is that Jos Buttler is back in the England fold.

Buttler hasn’t played red ball cricket since last September, but has been in sterling form in this season’s IPL.

The 27-year-old will come in at number seven, and if he takes his white ball form into the Test environment, could excel.

But it’s captain Root who is our traders favourite to be England’s first innings top runscorer at 11/4.

Former skipper Alistair Cook and Jonny Bairstow are next up at 4/1.

For the tourists, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam share runscorer favouritism at 10/3.

As for the attack, England will again be looking to the evergreen James Anderson.

The Lancashire ace is 2/1 favourite to claim the most Pakistan wickets in the opening innings. Stuart Broad is 3/1, with Chris Woakes and Mark Wood at 7/2.

Mohammad Amir appears to have shaken off an injury to be fit for Lord’s, and he could cause England trouble.

The 26-year-old is 9/4 to claim the most first innings wickets for Pakistan.

And as for the match betting, all-rounder Ben Stokes will be keen to let his cricket do the talking. There’s 7/1 about the Durham star landing the man of the match award.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing