On Tuesday, England’s Ashes heroes fly out of Heathrow for the first assignment in their brave new world. Although one from which they should emerge successful, it promises to be a strange and challenging mission. Certainly, it is hard to imagine anywhere further removed from the choreographed celebrations around London last month than the dust, pollution and general hubbub in the ancient Pakistani city of Multan, where the first of three Tests starts on November 12.
Pakistan is testing at the best of times. In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit the north of the country (not a part England are scheduled to visit, save for Rawalpindi, whose matches may be relocated to Lahore), the notion of staging cricket there will seem even more surreal than usual. Everywhere, England’s newly enriched, newly famous players will be confronted with the alien, including on the field, where they will be up against opponents they have not faced since June 2003.
Then, they were being led by new captain Vaughan, whose first assignment in charge brought him the first of what has proved to be many trophies when the team narrowly chased down 230 to win the deciding one-dayer in the NatWest Challenge.
Pakistan’s one-day team has not changed much since then, but less than half the side survives from the XI that last took on England in a Test, at Old Trafford in 2001, when England shed eight wickets in a frantic final session to throw away what looked a certain draw. It was a bad defeat that eroded English morale ahead of an Ashes series that was lost with unceremonious haste.
Since then, some of Pakistan’s most brilliant cricketers have left the big stage. Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar have all retired, while Saqlain Mushtaq and Azhar Mahmood, although both still turn out for Surrey, appear to have bid farewell to the Test arena. This is one reason why England should be overwhelming favourites to extend their sequence of Test series wins to seven.
That’s not all that has changed. In the intervening four years Pakistan have also changed captain twice and coach four times, while the batsman formerly known as Yousuf Youhana has undergone a conversion from Christianity to Islam and wishes henceforth to be known as Mohammad Yousuf. Allrounder Abdur Razzaq has changed his name to Abdul Razzaq.
If Pakistan look a different side in terms of personnel, the same old faults appear to remain. For all the thoroughness and consistency that Bob Woolmer, the new coach, brought when he was in charge of South Africa in the 1990s, the 16 months he has so far spent with Pakistan have seen the team play with the familiar mix of genius and juvenile. The recent introduction of central contracts has yet to make itself felt.
In each of the four Test series Woolmer has supervised, Pakistan have fallen behind. In Australia, a humiliating defeat in Perth was followed by further demoralising reverses in the second and third Tests, which captain Inzamam-ul-Haq missed through a back injury, possibly brought on by lifting a plate of food.
However, on the other occasions, Pakistan came back to pull off series-levelling victories against Sri Lanka, India and West Indies. Each time Inzamam, with a century, and Danish Kaneria, the backbone of the spin attack, with a five-wicket haul, were at the centre of the heroics. This is probably why Inzamam said last week about the England series: “All 11 have to contribute; one or two players will not be able to swing it for us.”
An even better indication of the chaotic nature of Pakistan’s recent Test cricket is the instability of the partnerships charged with opening the batting and bowling. In consistently successful sides these are invariably in the hands of the same pairings. Take the present England side. For the past 18 months, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss have always kicked off the batting and Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison have shared the new ball.
Under Woolmer, Pakistan have tried six batsmen, in eight different combinations, at the top of the order. Hardly surprisingly, they have produced just one century partnership (by comparison, Trescothick and Strauss have had seven century starts in 19 Tests). With the new ball, Pakistan have tried eight bowlers.
Since Wasim and Waqar retired, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami have usually been the preferred choice. The problem is, although both are unquestionably fast on their day, neither seems able to stay fit for long. Of the 14 three-Test series he has played in, Shoaib has been an ever-present in only four — and of those, his wicket tally in final Tests stands at a paltry four.
In other words, his endurance and work ethic are poor, something that has long strained relations with his managers. Woolmer has told Shoaib in no uncertain terms that he must buck up his ideas if he wants to feature against England.
To make matters worse, the side hasn’t played together since returning from the Caribbean in June. In an effort to catch up, three four-day trial matches have been arranged, the last of which starts in Lahore on Wednesday. Those who hope to be considered against England, including Shoaib, are expected to play. Unfortunately for the selectors, the first match was badly hit by rain. Apart from providing match practice, the games should help the selectors resolve their dilemmas.
If the solid and experienced middle order of Younis Khan, Inzamam and Yousuf are to be protected from the new ball, a reliable opening pair must be found. It could be that Woolmer goes back to the one with which he started: Imran Farhat, a gifted left-hander, and Yasir Hameed, who shared a world record four successive century partnerships in one-day internationals in 2003.
The other debate surrounds the attack. There are essentially two questions. The first is whether Shoaib and Sami — who underperformed in the second trial match — warrant selection. If they don’t, the leading candidates appear to be Shabbir Ahmed, who is tall, accurate and capable of reverse swing; Naved-ul-Hasan, who also commands reverse swing and starred for Sussex in the summer; and Umar Gul, who can move the ball either way.
The second question is the identity of the fifth bowler behind the new-ball pair, Razzaq and Kaneria. This could be one of the three seamers mentioned above, or a second spinner. If it’s a spinner, the candidates are Shoaib Malik, an off-spinner armed with a doosra, and Shahid Afridi, both of whom, crucially, can bat. Although Mushtaq Ahmed has also been summoned to play in this week’s trial, he is unlikely to be included against England.
Pakistan will be grateful just to see England. Since security became an issue after September 11, 2001, they have played just 11 Tests on home soil in four years. The only non-Asian sides to visit, New Zealand and South Africa, both lost, showing what an inhospitable place it can be. However, England’s superior discipline and morale should see them prevail in the Tests. While England have won six series on the bounce, Pakistan have failed to win any of their past five.
Perhaps an even more revealing statistic is that since the teams last met, Pakistan have played out just three draws. With them, it’s either gore or glory. If England stifle Pakistan’s strokemakers as they did Australia’s, there can be only one winner.
