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Find out from a friend—any friend—where England is likely to play a Test match this coming week. Even the most dedicated cricket enthusiasts would struggle to follow such a ridiculous schedule, which culminated in a disappointing one-day series between Australia and England just last week.
And now, without even stopping to change the clocks, they are once again embarking on their winter travels. They are headed to Pakistan, a country where England had not visited since 2005 and where they will soon have played six Test matches in less than two years—more away matches than even Australia and India have earned in a comparable amount of time.
It’s all quite disorienting, and that’s before we get into the thick of this winter, with another Test series in New Zealand looming next month and a white-ball trip of the West Indies scheduled for only three weeks from now. It’s hardly surprising that Andrew Flintoff has opted to play a part in reviving cult ’80s gameshows, or that James Anderson has decided to seize his golfing holidays while he can. There is already chaos on the international calendar. What’s wrong with a little extra dysfunction?
Speaking of such matters… The hosts, England, are former masters of the chaotic. Aside from their dismal recent track record of five straight Test losses, two of which occurred in a historic home series loss to Bangladesh last month, Pakistan’s particular brand of dysfunction was best demonstrated by the absurd prelude to this series, which included a near-daily stream of contradicting announcements regarding the preferred locations for the three Tests.
Much to Brendon McCullum’s dismay, considerable consideration had been given to moving the series to Abu Dhabi due to the unavailability of venues in Karachi and Lahore and the pre-booking of Rawalpindi by an international conference. However, back-to-back matches in Multan were ultimately decided upon late last month.
The last England tour to Pakistan in December 2022 was an incredible success, sparked by their aggressive batting in the first match of the series in Rawalpindi. However, the tour was typified by Ben Stokes’ outstanding leadership throughout, which included his well-timed declaration to force victory on that empty deck, his creative slip-free field placements to force out 20 wickets in similarly hostile conditions in Multan, and his unwavering faith in the rookie Rehan Ahmed, whose five wickets
Pakistan’s bowling attack composition is likely to provide them an advantage. The combination of Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, and Shaheen Afridi is, theoretically, their strongest assault in months and provides a cutting edge that was lacking for a significant portion of the 2022 campaign. Even though Jamal has only played three Tests, they were all part of an incredible 18-wicket opening series in Australia, and Naseem, when healthy, may make England yearn for the 150kph exocets that Wood brought to that prior triumph.
Once the sides take the pitch and the well-known rhythms of Test cricket return to the forefront, the context of this series will undoubtedly become clear once again. But as of right now, it feels a bit like cricket for the sake of cricket, with no build-up, no hoopla, and maybe even neither. Over the course of the next five days, the team that is best at parking that existentialism could very well grab a significant advance.