Wahab Riaz eyes England’s middle order

Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz has said that England’s middle order is “fragile”, ahead of the first Test at Lord’s, and believes Pakistan can put pressure on them.

“We know that England is struggling with their middle order, Joe Root is one of their best players and he has to take the responsibility, so that’s why he is at no. 3,” Wahab was quoted as saying.

“But I think the other batting is fragile. If you get Cook and Root quickly, you can really put pressure on them, but you can’t take things easy against them,” he added.

Ahead of the squad being named, there was a suggestion that Stokes could be included to play as a batsman while Jos Buttler’s name was also linked to a batting position following his impressive limited-overs form. Buttler subsequently broke a finger playing for Lancashire, so will now not be an option during the Test series, but Pakistan’s coach Mickey Arthur said he had been preparing for that duo to be in the line-up.

“We obviously looked at the squad with a lot of interest,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo.