The Perils of Pakistan: England's Cricketers Await Next Test

For England’s world-leading Test cricketers, a Christmas break did not mean shelter from the limelight. From a plaudit-drenched night at the BBC Sports Personality Awards, where they came away with the team gong, to Alastair Cook’s farmyard wedding to childhood sweetheart Alice Hunt, Andy Flower’s men have been very much in our thoughts over the festive period.

If only on the basis of a truly superb 2011 in the five-day format, such adulation is entirely justified. Now, after glad tidings, comes the tough part. A year that started by plundering the Ashes from Australian soil and ended in a domineering whitewash of India must be forgotten.

From the summit of the Test rankings, England have a long way to fall. Their first obstacle, against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, will be among the most difficult to navigate, for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, from Shakoor Rana to spot-fixing scandal, the fixture has always managed to produce abrasive confrontation in a claustrophobic atmosphere. Though captain Andrew Strauss and lieutenant Graeme Swann have done their utmost to douse the controversy of 2010 with indifference, there will be enough volatile characters on show for an eruption or two.

For a start, Wahab Riaz, the left-arm seamer who almost came to blows with Jonathan Trott ahead of a one-day international at Lord’s a year-and-a-half ago, has been recalled. In Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen and Matthew Prior, the tourists have a trio who adore a good scrap for the three lions. They will need every ounce of that fighting quality.

For all the pomp and ceremony of England’s progress, Pakistan, too, have momentum on their side. Grinding out a 1-0 series win over Sri Lanka at the start of November was consolidated by two thrashings of Bangladesh in December. In that time, Saeed Ajmal has developed into a world-class performer, his dangerous ‘doosra’ rendering him perhaps the most feared spinner in the world at the moment.

Batsman like Younis Khan and Azhar Ali have located their best, too, while bringing the mercurial maverick Umar Akmal back into the middle-order has ensured fireworks over the course of the three-Test contest. Tellingly, after the unsurprising inclusion of six Englishman (Cook, Pietersen, Ian Bell, Prior, Broad and Anderson) in the ESPNCricinfo side of the last twelve months, Pakistan were the next best represented, with two – prolific opener Mohammad Hafeez and Ajmal.

On paper, this is tight. Of course, though, cricket is not played on paper. In this instance, with Pakistan still suffering from the legacy of the Lahore gun attack on the Sri Lankan team back in March 2009, the matches will be shared between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. These are venues that, as Aizaz Cheema has already pointed out, will offer something familiar to the ‘hosts’ – intense, scarcely bearable heat.

Almost a decade ago, when Steve Waugh’s side were welcomed to the ‘neutral’ venue of Sharjah, they were indebted to the hulking Matthew Hayden, who endured temperatures of over 50 degrees Celsius in the second Test of the series to compile a super-human century. His innings spanned 431 minutes and the next highest score in the entire game was 44.

More stark than the statistics, though, was the pain etched on the face of the bear-like Queenslander’s face as he fought cramps on a slow wicket in the desert, towelling wrapped under his helmet to catch the rivers of sweat. England will have to delve just as deep, perhaps more so in the field, where they must be prepared to toil for every breakthrough.

What is more, with so much cricket being played this month, the queue behind England is palpably obvious. South Africa’s topsy-turvy tussle with Sri Lanka over three matches is reaching a one-sided climax at Newlands, while Australia are seemingly riding towards the echelons once more on the back of new skipper Michael Clarke.

Strauss’ vocal desire to succeed on “a new frontier” is encouraging, as a “patchy” sub-continent record cannot remain should he wish to retain the standing his colleagues have worked so hard to assert. It is also completely necessary. The UAE’s heat will evaporate complacent souls very quickly.

Now for the good news. England have a beautifully balanced side. Their batting line-up is very deep and is punctuated throughout by class. In the field, they have mastered the act of extracting opponents from the crease in a systematic, remorseless manner. They have every right to be confident.

Finally, this clash holds significance for one more historical reason; because of Karachi in 2000 when Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe scampered the single that took England to their victory target of 176 as the dusk settled and evening prayers rang out overhead. That run brought Duncan Fletcher’s England their first series win in Pakistan for 39 years and instilling a mentality of winning. Hope, that England would one day dominate, was born. It can now grow.