Tremlett unlikely for England

Date released: 24 January 2012

Tremlett seems highly unlikely to play in Abu Dhabi

England have another selection dilemma ahead of the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, after Chris Tremlett became a major doubt with a back problem.

Tremlett, who was wicketless for the first time in his Test career in the opening match, has suffered a recurrence of the back and side problems which kept him out of the second half of the 2011 summer.

Steven Finn or Monty Panesar are vying to replace the Surrey fast-bowler, who looked well short of his best form in Dubai.

Graeme Onions is the other option for England captain Andrew Strauss, though the Durham man was a late addition to the squad after Tim Bresnan withdrew prior to the series.

Decisions

England, currently ranked number one in the ICC’s Test rankings, need a victory to keep their hopes of a series win alive.

The Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi The Abu Dhabi pitch has a reputation of favouring the batsmen, with both Tests played there so far producing high scoring draws – including a remarkable three double centuries.

MCC did manage a convincing victory over Nottinghamshire in the 2011 Champion County fixture at the stadium though, in a match played with a pink ball in day/night conditions.

Strauss might therefore be tempted to give left-arm spinner his first Test start since his batting helped draw the first Test of the 2009 Ashes series in Cardiff.

Panesar, who has 126 Test scalps, took eight wickets in England’s warm-up game against a PCB XI, including 5-57 in the first innings.

England steered away from their three seamer, one spinner attack only once since Andrew Flintoff's retirement in 2009 though, (against Bangladesh in 2010) and Finn, who bowled superbly during the ODI series in India last year, looks set for a recall.