Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie has admitted to “frustrations from time to time” over the reduced scope of his job, emphasising the need for clear communication. Gillespie, who, alongside captain Shan Masood, was recently removed from the selection panel, said his current role “wasn’t what he signed up for”, but one he was happy to

Tea England 242 for 8 (Rehan 2*, Leach 1*) vs Pakistan Jamie Smith’s remarkable 89 has given England a firm footing at tea on day one third Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, on 242 for 8. In tandem with Gus Atkinson (39) for an seventh-wicket stand of 107 that ensured just three wickets fell in

Not often in Pakistan cricket does someone pass up the chance to take credit for any successful outcome, regardless of how significant their part was. But Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie kept such praise at arm’s length when talking about Pakistan’s bounce-back win over England in the second Test. Gillespie made clear that effectively all

It is the first time in Shan Masood’s stint as captain that Pakistan have named an unchanged eleven. The decision is not a surprise, though there was a chance Pakistan may switch up their combination to replace Zahid Mahmood, who bowled just six ineffective overs in Multan, with a seamer. But an injury to Mir

Days after the 2024-25 Quaid-e-Azam trophy was delayed, the PCB have announced the final schedule for Pakistan’s premier domestic first-class competition. The tournament will begin on October 26, with the final on December 19. In a major overhaul, the days of parsimony when it came to the number of teams have flown out of the

There is little secret about Pakistan’s ambitions for the pitch by now. Before the second Test reached its inevitable conclusion, Aleem Dar and Aqib Javed were already on their way to Rawalpindi to oversee work on the pitch for the final Test. At the post-match press conference in Multan, Shan Masood said he’d like the

Pakistan have stepped up attempts to prepare a spinning pitch for their Test series decider against England, using industrial-sized fans, outdoor heaters and windbreakers in a bid to dry out the surface at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. After losing by an innings on a lifeless pitch in the first Test in Multan, Pakistan pulled an unprecedented

There is no clarity on when the 2024-25 season of the Quaid-e-Azam (QeA) Trophy will start despite Pakistan’s bumper international Test season being well underway. A schedule tentatively put out by the PCB in August had Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament beginning on October 20, but the day before that date, the fate of the tournament

Jordan Cox is set to make his Test debut as England’s wicketkeeper during their upcoming tour to New Zealand, with Jamie Smith due to miss part of the series on paternity leave. Cox, who turns 24 on Monday, has been England’s spare batter for their last five Tests and will get his chance to impress

Brendon McCullum denied that his England side have been found out on spinning pitches, as Pakistan’s captain Shan Masood confirmed he is hoping for another turner in the series decider in Rawalpindi. Pakistan radically overhauled their strategy between the first and second Tests in Multan, making four changes to their side including the addition of

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, said he had apologised to his players for his show of frustration on the third evening in Multan, at the point that the second Test against Pakistan began to slip out of his team’s control in a spate of dropped catches and fielding lapses. Stokes, back in the side for the

Salman Agha pledged that Pakistan will put every effort into securing a first home Test win in “God knows how many years” after England lost two late wickets on the third evening in Multan. England need 261 more runs on a worn, re-used pitch to take a 2-0 series lead, while Pakistan require eight wickets

Ben Duckett believes that Pakistan could “crumble” under pressure in their second innings in Multan, after England finished the second day trailing by 127 runs with four wickets left on a worn pitch that has been recycled from the first Test. In each of their four Tests in 2024, Pakistan have batted first and then

Kamran Ghulam has never made any attempt to hide his desperation. All he wanted to do was play international cricket, and he would wait as long as it took. On Tuesday, 11 years on from his first-class debut, as he sat in front of the media after becoming the 13th Pakistani to score a hundred

The PCB has described Babar’s departure from the squad for the remainder of the series as a rest ahead of white-ball series in Australia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. In context, though, that becomes trickier to justify given the importance of this series – which Pakistan are 1-0 down in, and the fact that Babar did

In desperate need of a result following an innings defeat in the first Test, Pakistan have seemingly had a complete change of heart on the sort of pitches they want at home, and opted to use the same one from the first Test. To that end, they have lined up with three spinners, with seam-bowling

Ben Stokes will return to captain England in Multan this week after two months sidelined with a torn hamstring. Stokes has stepped up his recovery in the past week and will replace Chris Woakes in one of two England changes from the first Test, with Matthew Potts also coming in for the rested Gus Atkinson.

Pakistan have ripped up their home template ahead of the second Test starting Tuesday, naming three specialist spinners in their starting XI alongside seam bowling allrounder Aamer Jamal. Left-arm spinner Noman Ali, legspinner Zahid Mahmood and offspinner Sajid Khan have all been called up in a radical shift away from the green-top seaming tracks Pakistan

Pakistan are set to use the same pitch twice in a row in Multan as they look to respond to their innings defeat against England. Industrial-sized fans were set up at either end of the pitch as both teams held optional training sessions on Sunday after it was heavily watered by groundstaff in the aftermath

The decision to leave out arguably Pakistan’s three highest-profile players is little short of stunning. Pakistan’s chastening innings defeat after the first Test – following which captain Shan Masood criticised the bowling performance – was expected to result in several changes, though Masood and head coach Jason Gillespie called for continuity and asked players to

Babar Azam will be the biggest name casualty as Pakistan make significant changes to their squad for the second Test, two days after a chastening innings loss to England in Multan. ESPNcricinfo has learned Babar’s dropping was recommended by the newly formed selection committee, which met in Lahore within hours of the loss in the

Pakistan remain in contention for the knockouts but need to beat New Zealand by a substantial margin on Monday, and hope other results go their way. If India beat Australia out Sunday, Pakistan will not be able to reach the semis. Sana, who was named captain of the side in August, was missed on Friday,

The PCB has reconstituted its selection committee again, the latest on the day of another home Test thumping, this time at the hands of England. Shortly after England completed an ultimately comfortable innings win in Multan, the PCB announced Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, and Azhar Ali as the new members of the panel, joining Asad

After a historic day of batting records in Multan, Joe Root said that the motivation behind his England-record fourth-wicket stand of 454 with Harry Brook had been to drive their team into a winning position on another unforgiving Pakistan deck. And by the close of the fourth day, that goal was almost close enough to

Abrar endured a difficult time with the ball, with England singling him out for attack. For much of the second half of the day, he was reduced to bowling outside leg stump from around the wicket to Joe Root and Harry Brook. It did drag his economy rate down, but he was the only frontline

Sana’s absence will be a big blow for Pakistan, who need to win at least one, preferably both games, to stand a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals from a tough Group A. They are currently placed third in the group after a win and loss each from their two games. After the Australia game,

England are sweating on Ben Duckett’s availability to bat in their first Test against Pakistan in Multan, after he was unable to open their innings due to a suspected dislocation of his left thumb. Duckett was fielding at slip when Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan’s No. 11, steered a short ball from Joe Root straight into the

An emotional Abdullah Shafique said he was relieved to put the “challenges of failure” behind him after just his second hundred in two years. Having been through a prolonged slump after a blistering start to Test cricket that once put him on the cusp of becoming the fastest cricketer ever to reach 1000 Test runs,

England’s final-session fightback on the first day of back-to-back Tests in Multan was “a hell of an effort” which owed to their “high-end toil”. That was according to Jeetan Patel, one of their assistant coaches, who said that England were “pretty happy” with their position as Pakistan reached 328 for 4 at the close of

Big picture: Back on the road again Ask a friend, any friend, where do you think England will be playing a Test match this week? Who, bar the most devoted of cricket fans, could hope to keep up with an absurd itinerary that, only last week(!), was pitting England against Australia in a dank one-day