Asked whether the way England played, and won, when they last visited Pakistan in 2022 had a lasting impact, Shan Masood did not hesitate: “It had an effect on the world.”
That series stands as this England side’s greatest achievement to date. They found a way to win 3-0 on flat pitches and in unfamiliar conditions, in the process becoming the first, second and third team ever to score 250 or more runs at more than 5.30 an over against Pakistan. They topped out at 7.36 in the second innings of the first Test, a figure unmatched in the history of cricket until India rattled off 285 at 8.22 against Bangladesh last month.
“The way Ben [Stokes] led in that series was phenomenal,” said Ollie Pope, who stands in as England captain for the opening Test in Multan, which starts in the early hours of Monday morning. “He took a big risk in that first Test, which paid off, and the nature of the pitch dictated that if there was going to be a result, there was going to have to be a play made like that.”
Pakistan are belatedly trying to adopt key parts of that team’s approach. “We are always playing our best cricket when we’re not giving too much about the result and we’re playing an exciting brand of cricket when it is fearless, taking the game to the opposition,” Masood, their captain, said. “The best thing England did is realise there are other perspectives and things that might suit you. The key is to find new ways of doing things. That is how the world has always progressed and cricket is no different. You try and evolve and create new ways and England have been pioneers in that.”
This year England have spoken about a “refinement” of their style, but on Sunday Brendon McCullum insisted this was a misunderstanding. “When I was talking about refinement I was talking about some of the personnel in our group,” the England head coach said. “It wasn’t about the approach. The approach has never changed.”
England are aware that the path to success in this series may look very different to the trail they blazed in 2022. “The key to the tactics a couple of years ago was identifying you needed plenty of time to take 20 wickets in each Test, so we needed to force the run rate,” McCullum said. “We’ll see what unfolds over the next few weeks. If that’s the tactic we need we’ll go all in on it. If not we’ll hopefully be smart enough to adjust [tactics] and go all in on those.”
One key difference between England’s last visit and this one is that it happened in December. Two months earlier, in McCullum’s words, “conditions are a little bit more extreme ... it’s rocking hot, for a start. I guess we’ve just got to be quite malleable with our plans and adapt as quickly as we can. That’s how the game rolls, right?”
McCullum praised Stokes’s ultimately futile efforts to get himself fit for the start of this series – “I’ve never seen a professional athlete train as hard. I think most human beings wouldn’t have been anywhere near” – and defended the decision of his fast bowling coach, Jimmy Anderson, to miss the first six days of the tour to play a pro-am golf tournament. “He’s been in regular contact with the guys and it’s an incredible sign that two months after taking up the role everyone’s desperately missing him,” he said of Anderson, who is due to arrive on Tuesday. “Jimmy’s allowed to live his life, as everyone is. We’re always looking to ensure people can enjoy themselves, to tap into their family life, their hobbies and fun. I don’t think it’s a big issue.”
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Pakistan are dealing with a few serious issues of their own, having lost all five of the Tests they have played over the past year, their first under Masood’s captaincy, going down 3-0 in Australia and, more painfully, 2-0 at home to Bangladesh. “We kept getting into winning positions but the game slipped from our hands,” Masood said. “Those are things we need to learn from. The challenge is to make sure that we finish games off. There is a lot of hurt within the players. 2024 has not been a good year for Pakistan cricket all over and we like to see our fans happy. We are hurt. The answer is to be positive. We let the past go.”