Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss will celebrate a rare century when they bat for England in Abu Dhabi this week, with Cook targeting a performance that will bring up the landmark in style.

The second Test against Pakistan will be the 100th in which the pair have opened the batting together - just the fourth time in the history of Test cricket that the feat has been achieved.

West Indians Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes hold the record with 148 Tests, while Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer for Australia, and Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu for Sri Lanka, are the other opening pairs to reach three figures.

While the Cook-Strauss alliance has not been an unbroken run, it has been England's most prolific in terms of innings and matches and Cook is hoping he and Strauss can mark their century in style.

"We're very similar in character and we do enjoy batting together," he said.

"We hope, for the 100th time, we can do something special."

There have been a number of special moments, but Cook chose to pick out two partnerships from the last 99 matches together.

"It's always nice to have stability at the top of the order, and I hope we inspire some confidence in the rest of the team when we do walk out together," he said.

"We've had some great moments.

"Probably the highlight for me would be Australia at Lord's (in 2009) - when, after not batting so well in Cardiff, we came back and set a really good platform.

"Then there was Brisbane (last winter) as well - they're the two that stand out for me."

When the pair walk out to bat at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium this week, Strauss will find himself under some pressure after a lean run that has seen him go without a century since that Test in Brisbane, when he put on 188 with Cook to trigger a dramatic turnaround.

Naturally Cook was eager to stand up for his opening partner.

"I'm not quite sure why he hasn't scored a hundred since ... Brisbane, is it? I haven't seen him hit the ball better for quite a long while - if you look at him in the nets, he's moving as well as he's ever moved.

"We all know about form and how it dips and rises. But he is a genuine world-class player, and I think runs for people like him are just around the corner, without a shadow of a doubt."

A good start could be critical for England as they look to bounce back from an embarrassing defeat in Dubai, which has left them with everything to do if they are to win a tough series against Pakistan.

"If you look through the shot selections, we made some poor decisions," Cook reflected.

"To score runs, you have to make good decisions for a long period of time - and we didn't do that.

"Credit to the Pakistan bowlers, who put us under significant pressure - to force those mistakes.

"It's our duty as batsmen, and our job, to withstand that pressure and put them into second and third spells - then scoring becomes easier later in the day."