England in UAE: Questions to be answered ahead of Pakistan

England have touched down in the UAE ahead of the three-Test series against Pakistan.

The mood will be high in the camp following a pulsating Ashes triumph this summer - but Cook's clan need only look back three years to see how potent Pakistan are in the Emirates, England were thumped 3-0 in the winter of 2012 as the Asian outfit's spinners ran amok.

So what will be on the tourists' mind ahead of the first Test in Abu Dhabi, which you can catch live on Sky Sports 2 from Tuesday, October 13? We offer up a few suggestions…

Who opens the batting with Alastair Cook?

It won't be Adam Lyth, who has been jettisoned following a return of just 115 runs at an average of 12.77 during the five Ashes Tests, and it won't be Zafar Ansari either after the Surrey man - a big outsider to partner Cook, I grant you - dislocated his thumb on the day of his call-up and was subsequently ruled out of the tour. That, as the England captain explained on his recent visit to Sky Sports News, leaves two candidates: Alex Hales and Moeen Ali.

Hales perhaps warrants a first gig at Test cricket, having hit three Championship tons for Nottinghamshire this term, including a career-best 236 against a power-packed Yorkshire. However, with the 26-year-old in stuttering form during England's recent ODI series with Australia and Moeen noted for his ability against spin - something Cook's men will face in abundance in the UAE - the latter has been linked with a shift up the order from No 8. Hales' inclusion, though, would give England a right-left combo in the opening department so that may give him the edge over his rival.

How do England incorporate two spinners?

Opening with Moeen is one option, a switch that would allow leg-spinner Adil Rashid - fresh from impressing in white-ball cricket for his country and helping Yorkshire retain the County Championship - to slot into the bowling attack. If they don't go that way, there are a few other options. England could omit a batsman, with Jonny Bairstow, despite his rampant form for Yorkshire this term, seemingly the most at risk if that path is taken.

Alternatively, they could go in a with a three-prong pace attack, with a fit-again and firing James Anderson and Stuart Broad backed up by Ben Stokes, safe in the knowledge that Moeen and Rashid should do much of the bowling on the more spin-friendly tracks in the Emirates anyway. It is almost unthinkable that England won't go in with two twirlers against Pakistan so some sort of rejig will have to take place.

What will England's pace attack look like?

Again, there are ample possibilities. Stokes acting as England's third seamer seemed a long way off when he pocketed just three wickets in three Tests at an average of 85.33 during the spring series in the West Indies. Yet, Stokes impressed with the ball during the English summer, the high point his 6-36 against Australia at Trent Bridge when he got the ball swinging round corners. If England feel it is too soon to make Stokes first change, however, and they continue with four quicks, then the final berth appears a straight fight between Steve Finn and Mark Wood.

Finn retuned to the Test arena with aplomb during the Ashes - named Man of the Match in his comeback game at Edgbaston after snaring match figures of 8-117 - and blew Pakistan away, albeit in one-day cricket, when England faced them in the UAE in 2012, but Wood's skiddiness and ability to locate reverse swing could give him the nod. Liam Plunkett is an option, too, but seems set to play chief sommelier.

What to do with Jos Buttler?

The simple - and possibly best - answer is to leave him be and let him rediscover the sparkling batting form that can strike fear into opposition bowlers. Sure, the wicketkeeper looked far from his swashbuckling self during the Ashes with his tentative stroke-play yielding just 122 runs and a top score of 42 but, as Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain has suggested, the Lancashire man was probably mentally jaded having been a mainstay for England in all forms since succeeding Matt Prior as Test gloveman in 2014.

Buttler, whose work with the mitts is improving all the time, should be refreshed having sat out the second half of the ODI series with Australia, and England would perhaps be wise to accept the 25-year-old's dips in form considering how much of an x-factor he brings at his pomp. But with the conundrum of how to include both Moeen and Rashid, Buttler's lack of runs and the fact Bairstow can don the gauntlets, his spot could be in jeopardy.

How big a test will Pakistan provide?

A very big one. Marshalled by 41-year-old skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan have lost just one of their last eight Test series and never been beaten in a Test series in the UAE. Misbah's charges head into battle with England off the back of two away wins, firstly against improving Bangladesh and then against Sri Lanka, and with plenty of their batsmen in fine fettle, too.

Azhar Ali has been the best of the bunch, with two hundreds and as many half-centuries from his five Tests in 2015, and the veteran Younis Khan has chipped in with a couple of tons of his own - after scoring just the six in 2014! England won't come up against the spinners that destroyed them three years ago - 24-wicket Saeed Ajmal and 19-wicket Abdur Rehman overlooked - but they will face Yasir Shah, the leggie pouching 34 wickets in five games this term and zooming up to fourth in the ICC Test bowling charts. Cook's crew will have to be at their optimum to taste success.

England's tour of the UAE to play Pakistan is live on Sky Sports, starting with the opening Test, in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday, October 13.