As England teeter in Faisalabad, the lyrics to one of my favourite songs of the last few months serves as a message to Kevin Pietersen.
KP has contributed a miserly 28 runs to this series so far, following on the tails of his glorious Ashes winning performance at the Oval. So Kevin, have a [...]

Just realised that history is not our side for the current Pakistan tour.
The last time England won an Ashes series (before 2005) was the series that ended in January of 1987. England won the Ashes 2-1.
In the December of that year, a touring England lost to Pakistan 1-0.

As Pakistan position themselves for success after day one in Faisalabad, I can’t help but wonder how good this England team really is.
Are they the James ‘Buster’ Douglas of world cricket?
James Douglas became a household name for his 1990 victory over Mike Tyson. A heavy underdog (42-1 at the bookmakers), Douglas floored both [...]

I went to bed last night safe in the knowledge that England would win the first test. A modest total to get. Plenty of batting to come. All the signs were good.
I woke up this morning and found out they had lost in a narrow defeat.
One of the defining qualities of a team [...]

See saw, back and forth, to and fro, nip and tuck, ebb and flow, Laurel and Hardy.
Are England destined to be a team that make hard work of every opportunity, and then come out on top, leaving us all exhausted?
3 days gone in Multan, anyones game. Come on Gilo!

After going wicketless in the first innings, with the seamers picking up nine of the ten available scalps, Ashley Giles could yet play a crucial part in the Multan test match.
Assuming England go on to post a bat-once total, then Gilo could be the man to force an early victory. It would [...]

I wonder if Marcus Trescothic ever etched the initials F.E.C on his locker. Great to see him reach 3 figures on the stroke of a New Zealand midnight.
450 should be a minimum target for England from here (221 for 2 as I write), provided there is at least one more serious partnership (or [...]

I had become used to watching England turn sessions and days on their heads during the Ashes, so it should not have been too surprising to see a dramatic turnaround in fortunes on day one of the Multan test.
The 3 batsmen to come average a total of 24 between them, so an early breakthrough [...]