First one could be toughest

As discussed in the outright preview, England should be too strong and too consistent for Pakistan over the course of the four-match series, which begins at Trent Bridge on Thursday, but with the tourists coming off a great win over Australia, the first Test could be the most hotly contested of the lot.

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It is unlikely that Pakistan will go into any of the matches with their confidence higher than it is at the moment after their victory at Headingley which gave them a drawn series against the Aussies.

Relaxed and accustomed to the conditions already, if anything they will be better prepared, at least in terms of match fitness and focus, than England and bet365's offer of 3/1 against a Pakistan win may see more than a few takers.

England are 10/11 to open their summer (with all due respect to Bangladesh) with a win, while the draw is on offer at 9/4.

You have to go back to 1967 to find the last time England and Pakistan battled it out at Trent Bridge, so there is no ground form to go on, and the last time they lost the first Test of a home series was in 2006 when Sri Lanka beat them by 134 runs.

Pakistan's biggest problem, in terms of winning Tests at the moment, is their relative lack of depth, experience and perhaps class in the batting department. While England's top six, with Eoin Morgan replacing the injured Ian Bell and with Matt Prior to follow at No 7, looks capable of big scores, Pakistan may struggle and place too much reliance on new captain Salman Butt to get runs himself.

Pakistan have won just two Tests in the past two years, losing seven out of the 13 played, a statistic that makes worrying reading, even if they have played the bulk of them away from home because of security problems.

Their bowlers look a more than handy outfit - as Australia will testify - and if the recent humid conditions continue, they could be swinging it round corners on Thursday and Friday, but their batsmen have scored more than 400 only twice in nine away Tests and if that continues, they will find it tough.

Top guns
Kevin Pietersen is the favourite to be England's top series runscorer but interestingly he and captain Andrew Strauss share favouritism to top-score in the first innings at Trent Bridge.

That may because Strauss, who has averaged 50 since becoming captain, bats better in the first innings, averaging 47 in the first innings and 37 in the second, though Pietersen's averages are almost the same (49 to 47).

Jonathan Trott is 4/1 with Alastair Cook 9/2, Paul Collingwood 5/1 and Eoin Morgan 7/1. Don't discount Morgan even though he is batting at No 6 for if there is an early collapse, his efforts will become even more important.

Salman Butt is the obvious favourite in the Pakistan line-up at 3/1, and he will be absolutely desperate to lead by example if he can. Umar Akmal and Imran Farhat are each 4/1 and Yasir Hameed is on offer at 5/1.

Azhar Ali is 11/2 and Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal are both 13/2 but the top dog really should come from the top four for Pakistan, even though they are vulnerable to collapses.

In the end, despite Pakistan's confidence, England should be able to get the better of them given enough clement weather to get the job done. The forecast looks ok for the first few days at least, so if that proves to be the case, England can take the win at 10/11.

Cambers' Call
England to win the 1st Test v Pakistan - 10/11 bet365

Please note that odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.