Pakistan v England: seamer James Anderson remaining positive despite prospect of spin-friendly pitches

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Pakistan, in particular, have scythed through England's previously world-beating batting order with spin and seam thanks principally to Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman and Umar Gul.

However, Anderson is not about to forget in a hurry the occasions during England's rise to the top of the International Cricket Council Test rankings when it was the batsmen who provided the foundation for the bowlers to attack.

"There will be days when the bowlers won't get the wickets and the opposition get 600 and we're out in the field for two days," Anderson said. "The batsmen won't be happy with us then.

"It's swings and roundabouts and we have every faith in our batsmen that they will come out strong in the next Test."

After his side were bowled out for just 72 to lose inside four days at the Zayed Stadium, England coach Andy Flower stated that he and captain Andrew Strauss will not be afraid to drop a batsman if necessary for the final Test.

A clutch of middle-order mainstays have been ineffective on this tour to date, and have spent much of their time since the last defeat trying to work out among themselves where they have been going wrong.

"That's something that the batsmen have been discussing," Anderson added. "But they have been fantastic for us over the last two years.

"A lot's been made of two bad games. But the whole team has confidence in our batting unit and they've been working really hard to correct things that have gone wrong."

As for his own brief, Anderson has contributed five wickets in four innings, a fair reward for his toil in conditions which have largely favoured spin.

"Our job is to get 20 wickets in any Test match," he added. "We thought it might be a difficult job for us out here, but we've probably exceeded our expectations in that department.

"We're pretty pleased with the way things have gone (as bowlers). But we're not going to take our eye off the ball and will keep trying to improve on Friday."

Before then England must hope Ian Bell recovers from the stomach upset which kept him away from practice today.

It is expected he will do so if his ailment is the same which briefly troubled Jonathan Trott and Ravi Bopara during the second Test.

Anderson, meanwhile, spelled out England's chief objectives this week and beyond.

They urgently need a victory to ensure they retain that number one Test spot when the ICC hand out the prize money at the annual cut-off date on Apr 1.

More importantly still, England must satisfy themselves that they can play to their potential in these conditions, with two more Asian Test tours on the schedule this year.

"There are a few important issues for us that we've got to come across in the next Test," Anderson added.

"The biggest thing for us is that we've got another two tours in the sub-continent. So to perform well out here is a big thing for us.

"We also have a one-day series coming up, so to take a bit of momentum into that would be useful.

"We want to stay number one in the world as well, and losing Test matches isn't going to help us achieve that. We've got to try to win every Test match we possibly can."

Spinners have dominated Pakistan's wins in Dubai in the first Test and in Abu Dhabi in the second with 34 of the 40 wickets going to slow bowlers.

Off those, Saeed Ajmal has taken 17 wickets, Abdul Rehman 12 and Mohammad Hafeez five.

England's left-arm spinner Monty Panesar took seven wickets in the second Test, while his spin partner Graeme Swann has fetched nine.

But despite these statistics, Anderson refused to accept the spin-friendly nature of the pitches was discouraging for fast bowlers.

"I don't think so," Anderson said on Wednesday.

"Seamers have got plenty of wickets. (Stuart) Broad bowled well in the last game and Umar Gul got four wickets in the first, so it is just that the spinners have outshone us in the first two Tests."

Broad, who took 4-47 in the first innings of the second Test, has taken eight wickets in the series, while Anderson's tally stands at five.

Anderson said he was happy with England's bowling performance to date.

"Our job is to get 20 wickets in any Test match and we thought it might be a difficult job here but probably we have exceeded our expectations in that department, so we are pretty pleased," said the 29-year-old.

Anderson said he believed England had some issues to address, the priority being their batting weakness against spin bowlers, before this year's tours to Sri Lanka and India.

"I think there are a few important issues we are trying to come across in the next Test, the biggest thing for us is that we have two other tours in the subcontinent and that's for us a big thing.

"We also have a one-day series coming up so to take a bit of momentum into that will be useful as well," said Anderson of the four one-day matches and three Twenty20 internationals that follow the Tests.

Anderson insisted that the mood in the England camp was good despite the two losses.

"I think the mood is very good considering the position we are in, in this series. We are concentrating on how to go about winning this last game," said Anderson, who has taken 245 wickets in 65 Tests.

"We are open in this group and the guys have been open and honest."

Meanwhile, batsman Ian Bell was forced to miss training on Wednesday after falling victim to a stomach bug but team management said he is likely to resume training to Thursday.

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