Five Takeaways from England’s Tour of Pakistan
After Pakistan wrapped up the series 2-1 in Rawalpindi last week with some impressive cricket. What are the key talking points from England’s second tour of Pakistan under captain Ben Stokes?

England went into the series with some confidence: the last time they visited Pakistan, in 2022, they stormed to a 3-0 series win, whitewashing the home side and securing a first series win in Pakistan in 22 years.
This confidence seemed to be justified, too, when England, largely thanks to Joe Root and Harry Brook, comfortably won the 1st Test in Multan by an innings and 47 runs – a historic record-breaking victory away from home.
Just like in India earlier this year, however, England let a 1-0 series lead go to waste by failing to adapt to the conditions thrown at them in the subsequent Test matches.
This 2-1 series loss for Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes’ England side raises more questions than it answers. But here are my five takeaways from what was, undoubtedly, a brilliantly entertaining series to watch as a cricket fan, regardless of the result for England.
England still can’t play spin.

You’d really have thought that after the dismal end to proceedings in India earlier this year that England might have looked to improve on their ability to play spin - especially knowing a trip to Pakistan was in the diary for later in the year. Stokes and Co. obviously didn’t share the same logic.
We all know by now that if the pitch is flat, this Bazball England team will punish you. So, it was slightly odd that in Multan for the 1st Test, Pakistan chose to roll out the red carpet as it were by preparing England's idea of heaven. Joe Root and Harry Brook’s record-breaking partnership of 454 runs made sure that Pakistan would not make the same mistake again.
On the Multan motorway, as I like to call it, England scored 823 runs – in one innings, don’t forget. In the subsequent two Tests, however, when the ball started spinning, the tourists were reduced to just 814 runs across all four innings – quite the difference.
It’s fair to say Noman Ali and Sajid Khan’s introduction in the 2nd Test changed the complexion of the series for good. Over the next two matches, the masterful spinning duo went on to take an astonishing 39 out of the 40 English wickets up for grabs.
Where Pakistani batsmen played spin in this series with soft hands and patience, England continued down the route of aggression and arrogance. Resulting in one way: English batsmen looking like muppets.
Ben Stokes needs some runs.

Ben Stokes is one of England’s greatest. His batting this year, however, has not been at its finest, let's be honest.
The England captain has struggled with injury in 2024, which does need to be taken into account. But his batting performances in India and here in Pakistan, in particular, didn’t make for good viewing.
Stokes, with bat in hand, has averaged a meagre 18.00 in 14 innings in Asia this year. His overall average so far in 2024, too, is just a worrying 24.66.
Other than his exciting 70 against India in January and him scoring England’s fastest ever Test match half-century against the West Indies in July, it’s been slim pickings for the skipper of late.
His dismissal in England’s second innings in Rawalpindi was, perhaps, the icing on the cake: It was an absolute stinker, to say the least. And if we’re being honest, Stokes, looked completely at sea with the bat for the entirety of the series.
He’ll be looking to reply with runs in New Zealand next month, that’s for sure.
Reusing pitches and patio heaters is the way to go if you want to win, or so it seems.

After doing a better job than most UK councils in creating a ‘road’ for the 1st Test in Multan. Pakistani groundstaff resorted to some very peculiar methods of curating a cricket pitch for the next two Tests.
Because the pitch used for the 1st Test refused to deteriorate over the 5 days, even in the scorching Multan heat, Pakistani officials decided they’d just simply reuse the pitch for the 2nd Test too, as it was also going to be played at the same venue. The lead-up to the 2nd Test saw the groundstaff doing a lot of watering, and giant fans, the size of which I’ve not seen before on a cricket ground, being used to keep the pitch in match condition.
Perhaps, though, the most bizarre pictures from the whole series came from the lead-up to the 3rd and final Test in Rawalpindi. Where groundstaff decided to use patio heaters, as well as giant fans, to dry out the pitch ahead of play to create the perfect spinning conditions for Norman and Sajid to work their magic.
I couldn’t see it working at Lord’s, though.
Gus Atkinson can do it away from home too.

Gus Atkinson has, in the words of Micah Richards, ‘burst onto the scene’ this year.
After making his Test debut against the West Indies at Lord’s in July, the 26-year-old has now played 8 Tests in his short career, but he’s already taken 40 wickets at an average of 21.32.
However, not only has he looked good with the ball in hand, but he’s also not looked too shabby with the bat, either. He scored a magnificent 118 batting at No. 8 at Lord’s against Sri Lanka in August, for example.
The question was: can he do it in conditions that don't suit English bowlers?
Well, yes, he can.
He may have only taken six wickets in three innings, at an average of 27.83, but the Surrey man looked dangerous in conditions that were a fast bowler’s idea of a nightmare. He also looked good with the bat again, too. His partnership of 105 runs with Jamie Smith in the first innings in Rawalpindi demonstrated that.
With the Ashes in Australia looming in just over a year’s time. Gus Atkinson looks like a player who could have a considerable impact on who the owner of the famous urn is in January 2026.
Harry Brook could become one of England’s greatest.

Although the pitch for the 1st Test in Multan was flat as a pancake, to put it kindly. Nothing can, nor should, take away from the fact Brook scored a mouthwatering 317 runs in England’s first, and only innings of the game.
In a 454-run partnership with his hero, Joe Root, Brook looked like a world-beater. He became only the sixth Englishman to score a triple century in history. Only Andy Sandham in 1930, Wally Hammond in 1933, Len Hutton in 1938, John Edrich in 1965, and Graham Gooch in 1990 had done it before him. It’s, perhaps, the pinnacle of his career already. But if he wants to be like his hero, Root, he must have the hunger for more runs. And I think he will.
Now, whether he’ll ever get close to Root's whopping 12,754 Test runs (and counting), that’s up to the fortune tellers – or gamblers. In a changing cricketing world, however, where less Test cricket is being played, Brook might struggle. The Yorkshireman, though, like Hutton, Boycott, Vaughan, and Root before him, will no doubt take on the county’s great tradition of producing world-class English batsmen into a new era. The future is bright for Brook; he’s England’s future.
England will look to overcome their dramatic loss to Pakistan by travelling to New Zealand next month to play three Tests. New Zealand last week, however, just became the first team since England in 2012 to beat India at home. So, a tough challenge lies ahead for Stokes and Co. as they travel to the other side of the world.