Dom Bess and Jos Buttler contribute to England’s sense of uncertainty

With uncertainty comes excitement and there are more uncertainties than usual as England begin their Test summer. So for those of a nervous disposition let me offer one cast-iron reassurance: in the field at Lord’s England will be a more vibrant, athletic outfit than they were last winter.

The newcomer and the prodigal are brilliant fielders. Dom Bess, guaranteed to play according to Joe Root on the eve of the match, is a terrific presence in the field in the ring. So too is Jos Buttler, assuming he remembers how to do it. Before he was given the gloves Buttler was also a superb outfielder, fast and with safe hands, though if his return to Test cricket becomes permanent his slip-fielding prowess may have to be explored – this is not an area in which England have excelled recently beyond second slip.

Now to the unknowns: the most eye-catching selection was the return of Buttler as a specialist No 7 batsman. He has excelled in the Indian Premier League, which served as a reminder of the “unique gifts” Ed Smith referred to when announcing the squad. England have had specialist batsmen at seven before – Derek Randall, Mike Gatting, Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash have batted there – but it is hard to recall the side ever adopting the notion of a “specialist seven” with particular freedom to play in an aggressive manner, honed by white-ball cricket. This is unpredictable and appetising – though it is doubtful the Lord’s faithful will break into a slow handclap if Buttler has not played his “ramp shot” within 10 minutes of his arrival at the crease.

The oddity about Bess’s selection is that he could be construed as the conservative choice once the sad news of Jack Leach’s broken thumb had surfaced. Bess toured with the Lions in the winter; he has played 16 first-class games with the astonishing return of 63 wickets at 22 apiece and he can bat a bit as well as field. His most obvious rival is Surrey’s Amar Virdi, a year younger than Bess at 19 with only seven first-class appearances for Surrey and 23 wickets at 26 apiece.

Even so Bess’s elevation is incredibly rapid; he will be England’s youngest finger spinner and in first-class cricket he has seldom bowled on a pitch that does not turn, which is likely to be the case at Lord’s for at least three days. Once again here is a (glorious) uncertainty.

It does not end there. It may be that Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes will be the support bowlers for Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. Like Buttler they have just flown from the IPL into a Lord’s Test without playing any red-ball cricket this season. This may well work, but it breaks with convention and it is not so hard to predict how one or two old players might riff on the impossibility of playing proper Test cricket with such scanty preparation if Stokes and Woakes bowl poorly or run out of puff in the final session.

Woakes is not guaranteed to play. He is competing with Mark Wood for the last bowling slot and Root explained England would inspect the pitch early on Thursday morning before making their decision. It was tricky to inspect it on Wednesday since it was locked under a white tarpaulin and then, after a quick mow, the hover cover.

Currently those covers are hiding a healthy amount of green grass but the fact that the pitch was hidden from the sun all day suggests the groundstaff are concerned that it may become too dry too quickly.

The selection conundrum probably goes like this: if England think the ball is going to jag around then they are more likely to go for Woakes; if the pitch looks flat and batsman-friendly they may prefer Wood, who played in England’s last Test in Christchurch. Wood has the dubious reputation of being a better pick when his variety – the potential extra pace, his willingness to bowl bouncers – is deemed to be of greater value. A less cheerful man than Wood might then point out “I only play on the flat ’uns”.

There remains more uncertainty about the opening batsmen even though Alastair Cook will be equalling the record set by Allan Border when playing his 153rd consecutive Test. The only game Cook, who has never been dropped, has missed was through illness in Mumbai in 2006, which would have been his third Test.

Both sides have slumped since the drawn 2016 series here. They were vying for first place in the rankings then; now Pakistan are seventh, England fifth. Sarfraz Ahmed, a sparky captain behind the stumps, is leading a team that is rebuilding and missing one of their best bowlers, the leg-spinner Yasir Shah, because of injury.

“That is why we have inducted Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf so we can have five bowlers”, said Sarfraz. “If we had Yasir we would have played six batsmen and a keeper with four bowlers”.

Shadab, who is only 19, bowls leg-breaks, Faheem medium pace and both can be classed as all-rounders. Along with Imam-ul Haq, Inzamam’s nephew, they represent the new generation. But as with so many players in this match we have no real idea how effective they will be over the next five days.