MANCHESTER: England are in a spin in more ways than one as they head into the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford on Friday looking to level the four-match series at 1-1.

Alastair Cook’s men suffered a 75-run defeat inside four days in last week’s first Test at Lord’s, with Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah taking 10 wickets.

Now England will hope to play Yasir better at Old Trafford, where the pitch is likely to offer more turn.

They also have to decide whether to give a home debut to leg-spinner Adil Rashid, either in support of, or as a replacement for, Moeen Ali after omitting pacemen Steven Finn and Jake Ball from the 14-man squad on Thursday.

Not only was off-spinner Moeen, who has spent the bulk of his career as a top-order batsman, out-bowled by Yasir at Lord’s, he also fell to him in the second innings when recklessly charging down the pitch.

England have now called in former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq as a coaching consultant at Old Trafford.

While they will hope he can advise Moeen and Rashid, his greatest short-term benefit may lie in tips about how to play spin.

England have been without a specialist spin coach since former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, now in the tourists’ camp, returned home in 2014.

England’s all-time leading wicket-taker James Anderson (shoulder) and all-rounder Ben Stokes (knee) have been passed fit after they each missed the first Test.

Anderson is due to return on his Lancashire home ground amid suggestions that England captain Alastair Cook and coach Trevor Bayliss were happy to accept his assurances that he was fit for Lord’s, only for the pair to be over-ruled by the selectors.

“That means, obviously, Ben Stokes and Jimmy Anderson are back in — and Adil’s are in the 12, just depending on what happens to that wicket by tomorrow [Friday],” Cook told reporters.

Ball took just one wicket on his Test debut while Finn was below his best on his Middlesex home ground, with pace bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes taking 11 wickets in the match.

“It’s tough on Jake and Steven. Jake on debut bowled better than just taking one wicket suggests,” said Cook. “But in the overall picture, it’s another person we can call upon and add in competition for places ... and keep people on their toes.”

For all the debate about Anderson, it was England’s batting that was behind their defeat at Lord’s.

“No one really put their hand up with the bat in that second innings,” said Cook.

“In the first innings, no one went on and got close to that [big] score,” added opener Cook, who led the way for England with 81.

“It would be wrong to sit here saying if you’re 1-0 down you’re in a better place than if you’re 1-0 up.

“But we’ve got some really good cricketers in that team, who will be hungry to bounce back.”

Meanwhile Misbah-ul-Haq, who marked his first Test at Lord’s with a fine hundred which saw the 42-year-old perform a series of press-ups, downplayed the celebrations while stating on Thursday they were in no way aimed at England.

It was a gesture repeated by the whole Pakistan team in front of the Lord’s Pavilion after they wrapped up the match.

The press-up routine has become the squad’s way of thanking army staff who put them through a pre-tour boot camp.

“No disrespect for opposition — they [England] are a fine team and we know their strengths,” Misbah told reporters. “The celebrations were nothing to do with England, only a gesture for those we worked with.”

The veteran skipper confirmed Yasir Shah would be fit to play after the spinner was hit on the shoulder batting in the nets on Wednesday.

But scans revealed no significant damage and Misbah said: “That was a wake-up call for him. It was a bit of a concern — but after the scan I think he’s okay. So no worries.”

Misbah was also aware of the returning Stokes but said Pakistan will be ready for hm.

“They [England] can try to attack Yasir, it’s up to them what they want to do,” said Misbah. “We have to be ready for that challenge and Yasir knows that. We also know Adil [Rashid] got five wickets in the first Test in the UAE, so we respect whoever is playing.”

Pakistan’s desire to play two spinners had been hampered by off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez’s 12-month suspension for an illegal action last year.

Hafeez has yet to undergo a re-test on his action, with a knee injury during the World Twenty20 in India in March hampering his bowling training.

However, he could undergo a re-test during the gap between the end of the second Test and the start of the third at Edgbaston on Aug 3.

“That could give us a big advantage, if we have him [bowling] when the opposition have four or five left-handers,” said Misbah. “He couldn’t work on it before the injury, so now he needs time to get ready before he is tested.”

Both Hafeez and fellow opener Shan Masood struggled against the new ball at Lord’s, with Hafeez’s first-innings 40 the pair’s top score.

“That can happen in these conditions against the new ball,” said Misbah. “Don’t be impatient, we have to give them confidence and back them. We’ve got to believe they can deliver, that’s the only way.”

Stokes, in the meantime, was looking forward to working with Saqlain, who took 4-74 when Pakistan beat England by 108 runs in the second Test at Old Trafford in 2001.

“You’ve got to use the knowledge of the people you’re lucky enough to have come in and work with you,” said Stokes. “It would be silly if the batsmen didn’t try to get anything out of him, pick his brains and ask how the guys who were successful against him played.”

Teams (from):

ENGLAND: Alastair Cook (captain), Alex Hales, Joe Root, James Vince, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid.

PAKISTAN: Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Zulfiqar Babar, Sohail Khan.

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Rod Tucker (Australia).

TV umpire: Joel Wilson (West Indies).

Match referee: Richie Richardson (West Indies).

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2016