Cricket.com.au to stream ENGvPAK, starting tonight

After months without live cricket, the jam-packed English summer continues from 8pm AEST tonight with first of the three Tests between England and Pakistan, which will be live streamed on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app.

In another exciting partnership between Cricket Australia and the England & Wales Cricket Board following the successful live streams of the recent England v West Indies series, fans can watch the first Test on Cricket Australia's digital platforms, starting tonight at 8pm AEST.

WATCH LIVE: England v Pakistan First Test

Fans in Australia will be able to watch by using their Cricket ID login – at no cost. Signing up for a Cricket ID is free and could not be any easier – CA Live app users tap 'More' in the bottom bar then 'Sign Up' in the top right. On desktop or mobile web, just fill in your details here and you're good to go!

The series will also be broadcast in Australia on Foxtel and Kayo Sports.

How to watch

Fans in Australia can live stream Test cricket between England and Pakistan just by signing up for a Cricket ID. It's simple to do and doesn't cost you a cent – CA Live app users tap 'More' in the bottom bar then 'Sign Up' in the top right. On desktop or mobile web, just click here, fill in a few basic details and enjoy some live Test cricket!

Fixture

First Test: August 5-9 at Old Trafford, Manchester

Second Test: August 13-18 at the Rose Bowl, Southampton

Third Test: August 21-26 at the Rose Bowl, Southampton

Team news

Pakistan have indicated they may pick two spinners for the first Test, which would extend Fawad Alam's decade-long wait for a Test recall.

Fawad scored a century in his debut Test against Sri Lanka in July 2009 but was dropped just two matches later and hasn't been picked since, his last Test coming against New Zealand almost 11 years ago.

Despite averaging 56 at first-class level including 34 centuries, the left-hander had been a Test outcast before he recently returned to the Pakistan squad and he had been floated as an option to bat at No.6 for the Tests against England.

Image Id: 40CC3037D07F4F80A562756B9F6DFCDE Image Caption: Shadab Khan is seemingly battling Fawad Alam for a spot in the side // Getty

But that's unlikely to happen if Pakistan opt to strengthen their bowling by picking leg-spinning allrounder Shadab Khan to partner fellow leggie Yasir Shah. If Shadab plays, he would likely bat at No.7, which would move wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan up to No.6 and force Fawad out of the side.

"Recently at Southampton and Old Trafford, the pitches are showing help for spinners," coach Misbah-ul-Haq said this week.

"There is some dryness, like you get when it turns at The Oval, and later on there is the chance for some reverse swing."

If Fawad does return to the XI, his 10 years and 278 days out of the side would be the second longest interval between Tests for a Pakistan player, and the second longest this century for players from all nations.

Gareth Batty's return to the England Test side in 2016 ended a wait of more than 11 years, while former Pakistan left-hander Younis Ahmed, who copped a lengthy ban from international cricket in 1973 for touring South Africa during the apartheid era, had to wait 17 years and 111 days between the second and third Tests of his career, which remains the national record.

The all-time 'record' belongs to John Traicos, whose third career Test came for South Africa against Australia in 1970 just before their ban from international cricket. It was 22 years and 222 days later before Traicos played his fourth Test, this time for Zimbabwe against India.

Pakistan's three-man pace attack is expected to feature seamer Mohammad Abbas, left-armer Shaheen Afridi and teenage speedster Naseem Shah, while the visitors will look to skipper Azhar Ali, young star Babar Azam and veteran Asad Shafiq to score most of their runs.

Pakistan XI (possible): Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam/Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah

England will wait until the morning of the match to finalise their XI, with the fitness of star allrounder Ben Stokes to be a decisive factor.

Stokes was picked as a batsman only in the third Test against the West Indies last week due to a quad injury, which saw England drop batsman Zak Crawley and bring in an extra bowler, with allrounder Chris Woakes moving up to No.7 in the order.

Stokes bowled in the nets on Monday but it's yet to be confirmed if he's available to bowl this week.

If Stokes is at full fitness, that would likely see Crawley return to strengthen the batting line-up, which in turn could see one of Woakes, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson or Jofra Archer left out.

England also have left-armer Sam Curran and speedster Mark Wood available for selection.

Another option for England would be – in stark contrast to Pakistan's game plan – to drop spinner Dom Bess, who didn't bowl at all in the third Test, and maintain four frontline seamers.

England XI (possible): Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Dom Bess, Jofra Archer/Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson.

Keep an eye on …

The pace battle.

The depth of fast-bowling talent in these two squads is such that selectors for both teams are having a hard time simply deciding who to leave out.

England used six seamers in their recent series against the West Indies and have Anderson, Broad, Archer, Woakes, Wood and Curran all fit and available here, as well as allrounder Stokes (although he is under a slight injury cloud).

Image Id: 370D2E74FC7D4D51A5E5502E361154F0 Image Caption: Shaheen Shah Afridi at training this week // Getty

Pakistan also have an enviable seam line-up, led by Abbas – who took eight wickets in a Test at Lord's two years ago and also has a strong record in county cricket – alongside young stars Shaheen and Naseem.

And in reserve, Pakistan will be able to call on veteran Wahab Riaz – who has reversed his recent decision to retire from Test cricket – as well as Imran Khan, Sohail Khan and Usman Shinwari.

The impending milestone

After his pace partner Stuart Broad reached 500 Test wickets last week, Jimmy Anderson is 11 wickets away from becoming the first pace bowler to take 600 Test wickets.

The World Test Championship

England enter the series sitting third on the ICC's World Test Championship points table with 226 points from their 12 matches across three series, while Pakistan are in fifth with 140 points from five wins, also in three series.

With 40 points on offer for a win in each of the three Tests in this series, England could overtake Australia for second on the table, but even a clean sweep wouldn't see them catch India's 360 points earned from nine matches across four series.

A series sweep for Pakistan would see them overtake England in third.