2 minute read
England’s last Test tour of Pakistan finished in December 2005. We launched King Cricket in January 2006. We are about to complete our first lap of Test cricket.
That 2005 series finished 2-0 to Pakistan. Shoaib Akhtar and the not-especially-Danish Danish Kaneria skittled England on the fifth day of the first Test; the second Test was a draw; and then the perpetually-under-talked-about Mohammad Yousuf built up a sufficient amount of ‘scoreboard pressure’ with 223 in the third Test, Kamran Akmal also chipping in with 154 after coming in at eight. (Steve Harmison bowled 43 overs in that innings.)
Does this tell us much? Not really. England’s current coach, Brendon McCullum, isn’t even keen to pay much attention to Australia’s tour in March. He wants England to “play what’s in front of them” instead – a somewhat self-defeating strategy surely, given that cricket is famously a side-on game.
McCullum means the pitches really; trying not to preconceive what they’ll be like. There is one thing that should be a bit more predictable within the grounds though: crowds. All three Tests are said to be sell-outs, which is a very good thing.
The first Test is in Rawalpindi. It begins on Thursday at 5am UK time.
Does anyone know if the highlights are on terrestrial TV? I don’t think they are, but with all the different broadcasters these days, it’s hard to keep track of who has the rights to what. I had a quick look, but I couldn’t see anything anywhere.
I think I’ll probably get a Now TV subscription for the month so that I can watch it on Sky Sports. It’s £33.99, which is pretty steep during a cost of living crisis, but they’re doing two months for the price of one. That’ll get me the South Africa one-dayers in January as well – although to be honest I’m not too interested in them. Still, the option’s there.
Come on The England! Come on The Pakistan too, for that matter. I’m American. I’ve no preference who wins. I just want to see some high quality Test cricket.
If you’re wondering whether to do the same as Taylor for this series, we’ve got an article outlining the pros and cons of using Now TV to watch Sky Sports Cricket that might be of use to you. The gist is that you don’t need any special gear and it can work out well if you’re just dipping in for a month and remember to cancel your subscription before it automatically renews.