Sarfraz has high hopes

Pakistan cricket captain Sarfraz Ahmed said Saturday he had high hopes for his young and inexperienced side on their tough twin tours of Ireland and England starting this month.

The 16-member squad fly early Monday and after two side games against county teams in England will play a one-off Test against Ireland at Dublin May 11-15.

They then face a formidable England side in two Tests at Lord's (May 24-28) and Leeds (June 1-5).

Sarfraz said his players were eager to do well.

"Our hopes are very high and I am very optimistic with these new boys," he said after a short training camp in Lahore.

"The best thing about these players is that they are willing to perform well at the bigger platform."

Pakistan will be without senior batsmen Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq who helped them level a four-match series 2-2 against England in 2016.

Both retired in May last year.

Openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq, batsman Usman Salahuddin and allrounder Faheem Ashraf have featured in limited over matches but not in the five-day format.