The third and final Test match between England and Pakistan is at Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham, on Wednesday, September 9.
The final Test is likely to be more about pride, given that England are already 2-0 up the series, the pitch and the weather could play a significant role in the outcome.
The Edgbaston surface has always been a good match-up for bat and ball. Good pace and bounce for fast bowlers, generally, during the early part of the match, especially with the clear sky above.
But as the Test match moves on to later days, the conditions become more and more favourable for batters.
More influence may be gained by spinners over the final two days especially if the pitch gets poorer.
There has also been little variation in performance on the basis of batting first or second at Edgbaston over the years and, therefore, the toss could not be the sole deciding factor.
However, the victorious side may want to field first and capitalise on the help offered by the seamers at the start of the match.
Edgbaston Weather Forecast
One of the most likely talking points during the Test will be weather conditions. The 1st day will be fairly nice with a temperature around 18°C and a 25% chance of rain.
The total cloud cover looks to be around 38% and could provide some help for England and Pakistan’s pace bowlers with movement.
Weather may become more troublesome on Day 2 with a chance of rain of approximately 55%.
It is possible that rain will cause play to be interrupted for about an hour and 82% of the day will be cloudy.
It may be particularly hard to hit the ball in these conditions, particularly if they are able to bowl quality pace.
Day 3 is expected to be better with a rainfall probability of about 25% while the clouds will be high at about 80%.
Weather will be the best for uninterrupted cricket in the last two days with no significant risk of rain or heavy clouds.
The overall outlook for Edgbaston is ideal for both teams, they’ll be able to get some early help from the seamers, batting conditions will get better along the way, and spin may prove crucial at the end of the Test.