England's challenge is in their minds as well as with their technique Make the doosra a scoring opportunity The safest method is to play dead straight for 30 or 40 balls. Jonathan Trott did exactly that in the second innings. He started to read Ajmal's off-spinner and hit it through the on side and then the "doosra" he drove to mid-off and extra cover. If you can pick the doosra it is actually a chance to score runs because there are not many fielders on the off side so you can play with the spin away from the right-hander and hit with the turn, almost as you would a leg break. That is the challenge. Can they stay in? If they do then they will read Ajmal and start scoring off him. Unfortunately it is a big if. Clear the mind You can't train to play against the likes of Ajmal in the nets. He is unique. In Australia last winter we could replicate the angles and lengths of Siddle, Johnson and Hilfenhaus and work out where to score runs. When you face bowlers such as Gul and Ajmal they bowl balls you've never seen before. There is not a bowling machine in the world that can produce a "doosra" or reverse swing with a high upright seam like Gul so it is about how you react in the middle. Everyone will say get in the nets and work hard but I think they should be given a couple of days off. This challenge is in the mind as much as it is in the technique. I don't see any massive technical faults with the England players. I just think they are not picking Ajmal. If you can't pick him then the bowler at the other end becomes more threatening because your mindset is on Ajmal. The others then nip in and get you out. Gul did that in the second innings. Eyes on Cook and Strauss We have seen over their last two years how Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss cut for four and play flicks and pulls off the hips early on in their innings. Those strokes are out of the equation here so you have to work out new ways of taking control. That sends a message to the dressing room. Even though they only survived for a handful of overs in Dubai it was clear they did not look comfortable. That has to change in Abu Dhabi. They have to find new ways of scoring runs because when England bat again all eyes will be on them to set the tone. They have to show us how England are going to score 350. Does KP hook or duck? Pakistan's plan was brilliant against Kevin Pietersen. They worked on his ego. He was on nought in the second innings so they stuck a man out on the hook knowing he would take it on. Do you know what? Next week they will do the same thing again. But they are clever. They will mix it up. As soon as he gets to the crease Gul will bowl full, straight on his legs or bounce him. The problem Kevin has is does he hook or duck? If he ducks his head he will start leaning over to the off side making him vulnerable to lbw if Gul goes full and straight. If he hooks and lobs it up in the air he will again bear the brunt of criticism. Pietersen is a fantastic player but he can't have two bad Tests in a row. He just needs to score runs. I don't care how he does it. Pick Monty and play the DRS The only change I can envisage is Monty Panesar for Chris Tremlett. Monty will get tighter to the stumps and if he hits the pad he will have Decision Review System on his side because the Pakistan boys play across their front pad quite a lot making them susceptible to lbw. England also know Trott can give them 10 overs with a spinner-style field to keep the runs down to three an over. They can't change the batting order. Eoin Morgan made a hundred a couple of Tests ago. It is a shame for the bowlers because the loss was nothing to do with them but Monty offers another option. Prove you want to be great We hear England are really excited about the challenge of building a legacy and want to improve all the time. Well the next Test in Abu Dhabi will test those sentiments. I don't remember the great Australian side, which England aspire to emulate, being hammered the way we were in the first Test. That will be the voice in Andrew Strauss's head. He will not want his team to be known as a poor subcontinent team. They have won the Ashes and earned the right to be No 1 but the work is not over yet.