Pakistan face England in a Test series on home soil for the first time in 17 years; England have only won one in Test in Pakistan; watch the series opener, in Rawalpindi, live on Sky Sports Cricket on Thursday (4.30am on air, 5am start)
Thursday 24 November 2022 21:31, UK
Pakistan are hosting a Test series against England for the first time since 2005.
After England won the recent T20 series in the country 4-3, the teams now play each other in three Tests, starting in Rawalpindi on Thursday before further games in Multan and Karachi.
Off the back off a summer in which England lost just one Test, they play their first overseas tour under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, hoping to continue their red-ball revolution.
Security concerns in recent years have meant Pakistan have played most of their matches away from home and there were discussions about moving the first Test after an assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
England had just come off the back of a historic Ashes win, beating Australia on home soil in a series which ebbed and flowed as Michael Vaughan's side eventually lifted the urn at The Oval.
By the time they embarked on a three-match tour of Pakistan in November 2005, England had lost just two Test matches that calendar year.
South Africa beat them by 196 runs in Cape Town in January, and Australia won the first Test of the Ashes at Lord's by 239 runs.
Pakistan played six Tests before hosting England, winning three, including convincing victories over India and the West Indies.
England were ranked second in the world at the time, two places above Pakistan, but they had only won once in Pakistan since 1968, losing four times and drawing 16 Tests.
The 2005-06 series was meant to be different for England, a team filled with stars who had dominated Test cricket for 18 months.
They had seen off a South African side featuring Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith and an Australia team including Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee.
So, facing the likes of Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami and Salman Butt would not have instilled fear into a buoyant and confident England side.
In the first Test, England looked like they would continue their good form, with stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick scoring an excellent 193 to help them to a first-innings lead of 144 runs.
Going into the final day, England were 24-1 chasing 198 and looked favourites to win the match but they were stunned by Pakistan's bowling attack, losing five wickets in 10 overs during the morning session and losing the Test by 22 runs.
Only Ian Bell and Geraint Jones reached the 30s in the second innings, as Akhtar took three wickets, while Danish Kaneria ended with figures of 4-62.
England scraped through the second Test in Faisalabad with a draw after another second-innings collapse - at one stage they were 20-4, with none of the opening four batters reaching double figures.
But Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff shared an 80-run partnership to help steady the ship, before Geraint Jones and Ashley Giles guided England to a draw.
The game was maybe more memorable for Inzamam-ul-Haq's centuries in both innings, which took him past Javed Miandad's national record of 23 Test hundreds - a record since surpassed by Younis Khan.
With the series finely poised going into the final Test in Lahore, England would have been hoping to leave Pakistan with a share of the spoils.
Pakistan restricted England to a 288-run lead in the first innings, which the home side comfortably chased down.
Mohammad Yousuf top-scored with 223, while Kamran Akmal finished on 154 as Pakistan declared with 636 on the board and an imposing 348-run lead.
Akhtar took five wickets as England were blown away on the final day, losing by an innings and 100 runs. After the euphoria that gripped the nation during the Ashes, England ended the year on a disappointing low.
Watch England in action in Pakistan live on Sky Sports. The first Test, in Rawalpindi, starts at 5am UK time on Thursday with our build-up beginning at 4.30am on Sky Sports Cricket.
