England turn to inexperienced seam attack to battle against the heat in Pakistan

England will be without captain Ben Stokes for the first Test match against Pakistan in Multan

Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the first Test in Multan (Getty Images)

England blew Pakistan away on the first Bazball tour overseas in the winter of 2022, racking up the runs and using pace and spin to secure an unprecedented 3-0 win in the subcontinent.

Ahead of that tour, questions were raised over whether Brendon McCullum’s new aggressive style of cricket, which had been successful against India, New Zealand and South Africa in England, would succeed away from home.

Pakistan has been a historically difficult place to tour, with the slow low-bounce pitches yielding few opportunities to take wickets. In fact, no foreign side before Ben Stokes’ England had won a Test series by a margin exceeding two Tests.

It was an exceptional tour, from Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley putting on 100 runs before drinks on the first day of the Test at Rawalpindi while some of their teammates slept off an illness that threatened the start of the match in the dressing room - to Rehan Ahmed becoming the youngest player in the history of men’s Test cricket to take five wickets in an innings on debut in Karachi.

The 2022 series was England’s first red-ball tour of the country since 2005, more than a generation before, and foreign teams had only just started resuming their tours of the country. There were questions and concerns over security, with the teams not allowed to leave the hotels, which themselves were heavily guarded.

This time around, Pakistan will not be as easily stunned by England’s style of cricket, and the tourists will be hoping the sickness that plagued their tour two years ago does not make a recurrence.

Instead of taking in three different cities, England have two back-to-back Tests at Multan and a final one at Rawalpindi, the scene of their record-breaking win in the fading December light in 2022.

With Stokes ruled out for the first Test, England have chosen a seam attack who have yet to bowl with a red ball in Pakistan in competitive matches, and a debut cap for Brydon Carse.

Chris Woakes has not played in Pakistan, but will lead an inexperienced cohort of bowlers in conditions around 36 degrees, but expected to feel significantly warmer in the Punjab city of Multan.

The conditions may vary slightly but are not likely to be too different to the flat, lifeless pitches that needed England’s aggressive approach in order to secure a result two years ago. In contrast when Australia visited in 2021-22, the team from down under ground out a 1-0 result in a series likened to one long Test match.

Brydon Carse will make his England Test debut in Multan (Getty Images)

James Anderson, the team’s fast bowling coach for the tour, will reportedly not arrive in time for the start of the match, because of a golf tournament in St Andrews.

Pakistan cricket has changed significantly since then with Shan Masood taking over the Test side, and Jason Gillespie appointed as head coach, with yet more changes behind the scenes at the PCB. They have been a team in turmoil and go into the series against England having been beaten 2-0 by Bangladesh and prior to that a 3-0 series defeat in Australia.

England team:

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.