Local knowledge key to Pakistan success

Playing cricket in Pakistan holds its own particular challenges, which England will need to prepare themselves for © Getty Images

If England are to succeed in Pakistan, then they will have to get to grips with the conditions on the sub-continent, and learn the intricacies of the three venues to be used for the Test series. Multan, Faisalabad and Lahore are hosting the three Tests, in that order, so it's worth looking back at the history of Test matches played on those grounds.

Multan
Only three Tests have been played in Multan. The ground began its Test history with a clash between Pakistan and Bangladesh in 2001, a match won by the home side. Pakistan repeated the feat in the next match against the same side, but were soundly beaten by big rivals India in 2004. Not too much can be gleaned from those matches, especially as Bangladesh, the weakest of the Test nations, were the opponents for two of the three matches. India smashed 675 in their innings on the ground, so it can't be bad for batting, that's for sure.

Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
Of the 22 Test matches played here, 11 of them have been drawn with Pakistan winning six and losing the other five. The last time they triumphed there, though, was way back in 1996/1997 and all three of the Pakistan-England matches have also finished as draws.

What is interesting is that of the 11 matches which have yielded a result, seven of them have been won by the side batting first. The average runs per wicket in the first innings is 33.60 and though it rises to 38.30 in the second innings, the third innings average is 32.50 and then it drops, quite considerably, to just 21.50 in the final innings of the match.

Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Of the three Test venues on the rotation this time round, the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is the one with the most history, with 35 Tests being played on the ground. Of those 35, Pakistan have won 10, lost just six and a massive 19 have been drawn, meaning that it yields a result only 46% of the time.

Of the seven Tests against England, Pakistan have won once, England once and there have been five draws. Again, though, what's interesting is that of the 16 Tests won on the ground, 13 of them have been won by the side batting second. After an average of 31.70 per wicket in the first innings, it rises to 36.8 in the second innings, drops to 30.80 in the third, but rises again to 37.8 in the final innings, which explains in part why claiming victories on the ground is not an easy task.