England v Pakistan: Ben Stokes's absence and Fawad Alam's potential return take centre stage

James Anderson approaches 600 Test wickets mark in Southampton Test

England's Chris Woakes celebrates winning the first Test against Pakistan in Manchester on Saturday, August 8. Reuters

Chris Woakes celebrates after hitting the winning runs during play on the fourth day of the first Test match between England and Pakistan at Old Trafford in Manchester. AFP

England's Jos Buttler plays a shot as Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan keeps wicket. AFP

Stuart Broad of England sweeps past Abid Ali of Pakistan. Getty

Shaheen Afridi of Pakistan celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Ollie Pope in Manchester. Getty

Shadab Khan of Pakistan takes the catch of Ollie Pope. Getty

England's Chris Woakes plays a shot during play on the fourth day of the first Test. AFP

England's Stuart Broad, left, and Chris Woakes scores runs off Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi. PA

Yasir Shah of Pakistan celebrates the wicket of Jos Buttler. Getty

Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq looks on during day four of the first Test in Manchester. Getty

A Pakistani fan plays saxophone next to the ground at Old Trafford. AP

The opening Test between England and Pakistan gave both teams plenty to think about heading into the second Test in Southampton on Thursday.

England eked out a tense three-wicket win chasing 277, after being reduced to 117-5; a win that was achieved through fifties from Jos Buttler (75) and Chris Woakes (84 not out).

England will admit they were behind the game for a big part of the Test, while Pakistan would be lamenting the failure of their bowling attack to finish things off after taking out the top order cheaply.

As the teams prepare for the second Test of the three-match series, here are the main talking points.

Stokes-sized hole in England line-up

He had not been bowling his full quota of overs due to a thigh injury but Ben Stokes the batsman is worth his weight in gold. England will miss his services for the remainder of the series after the all-rounder travelled to New Zealand to be with his family.

He failed with the bat in both innings in Manchester but managed to pick two wickets in four overs in Pakistan's second innings to help bowl the visitors out cheaply for 169 and set the stage for a manageable chase of under 300.

England have a decision to make – beef up the batting line-up through Zak Crawley, or bring in wicketkeeper Ben Foakes and use Buttler as a pure batsman. Buttler has struggled with the gloves, and Foakes is considered the best wicketkeeper in the country, but Joe Root might go with an additional batsman.

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England v Pakistan 1st Test ratings

Anderson approaches milestone

England veteran James Anderson is 10 away from 600 Test wickets. That should be the talk of the town, but instead the focus is on his dwindling returns; Anderson has just six wickets in three Tests this summer at an average of 41.17.

The 38-year-old asked England to "keep faith" in his abilities and stated retirement is the last thing on his mind.

"Hopefully I can show people I've still got what it takes to play Test cricket. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the captain and coach keep faith with me for the next game," Anderson said.

"I think the frustration for me was that after one bad game the whispers go around. I don't think that's really fair. I'm still hungry to play the game and I'll work hard to try and put things right if I get a chance."

Will Fawad play?

Pakistan have a few issues of their own. Leg-spinner Shadab Khan was selected to provide some lower-order runs and useful overs on what was clearly a pitch conducive for spinners at Old Trafford.

He did score 45 and 15, but bowled just eight overs for 34 runs in the fourth innings. Captain Azhar Ali seemed reluctant to give him overs when the pressure was on, which raises questions about his place in the team as the Southampton pitch is unlikely to warrant two wrist spinners.

A section of Pakistan supporters are keen to see domestic cricket stalwart Fawad Alam get an opportunity to play Test cricket again; he last played Tests for the country 11 years back.

Despite being the most prolific batsman at the domestic level in Pakistan – he has scored more than 12,000 runs at an average of more than 56 – Alam has been found himself out of the squad or the playing XI. Now seems a good opportunity to draft him in, especially because captain Ali looks out of touch.