‘No complaints’: England’s McCullum unfazed by Pakistan’s pitch tactic

Brendon McCullum may believe that only Superman could have saved England from defeat once they found themselves chasing 297 on a turning wicket in the second Test – suggesting at that point they were doomed “save for someone coming out of the telephone box” – but the coach praised Pakistan’s gamble on re-using a tired pitch, describing it as “a good punt”. “I actually don’t mind,” he said. “I think home teams should be allowed to have conditions that suit themselves. I thought they did brilliantly.”

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The series now moves to traditionally less spin-friendly Rawalpindi for Thursday’s decider; in seven Tests played there over the past five years seamers have bowled 56% of the deliveries and taken 64% of the wickets. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a turner in Rawalpindi,” said Shan Masood, the Pakistan captain, though the Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief curator, the Australian Tony Hemming, has been there since the start of the week doing his very best to create one.

“That’s one of the great aspects of playing cricket all around the world, right?” McCullum said. “You’re challenged in different conditions and home teams should have a home benefit. I like that about the game. We said right at the outset that we’ll try to adapt to whatever conditions we come up against. We were very realistic about how difficult this challenge would be and that there could be some extreme conditions confronting us at some stage. We have no complaints so far.”

As they bask in a rare and welcome victory Pakistan might bear in mind that events in Multan this week are unlikely to have been forgotten when they travel to England for three Tests in the summer of 2026. After completing this series England will not play another Test in Asia for two and a half years, before they travel to Bangladesh for two games in February 2027, and have a variety of equally unfamiliar conditions to prepare for in the meantime.

With this in mind McCullum is likely to add Shoaib Bashir to the Lions squad for this winter’s tour of Australia to give the 21-year-old experience of an unfamiliar country before next winter’s Ashes.

“That’s the beauty of the Lions programme: you have the opportunity to get some cricket into guys,” McCullum said. “With Fred [Andrew Flintoff] there as well now in charge of the Lions, he’s got a very similar view on the game as what I’ve got, so there’ll be consistency of message and that’s something we’ve got to look at. For Bash, the opportunity to be able to get some experience in those conditions could be really vital for us.”

After taking only one wicket in the opening game in Multan, Bashir took five in the second, including Pakistan’s top three in the second innings, and three left-handers. “I’ve been really impressed by him,” McCullum said. “I know he had a quiet Test match in the first one, but it was the nature of the surface as well.

“He’s one of those guys who, on his day, can be an absolute match-winner, and on the right surfaces he’s a real handful. That’s what we’ve got to keep reinforcing. He’s such an exciting talent. We said right from the start when we picked him, he’s not the finished product, but his ceiling is so high and we’ve already seen glimpses of that.”

McCullum is planning to give Jordan Cox, an unused member of the squad in this series, an opportunity to keep wicket on England’s next tour, to New Zealand in November and December. Jamie Smith remains first choice after a positive home summer despite making a single glaring error in each Test in Pakistan, but is likely to miss at least two games in New Zealand because of the birth of his first child.

“At this stage it looks like Jamie will probably play the first one and may miss the next two,” McCullum said. “We’re not totally sure – it’s up to Mother Nature a little bit – but we know we’ve got Jordan Cox in the squad.

“New Zealand is a comfortable place to wicket-keep and it would be great to have a look at him. His keeping is solid. I’ve done a bit of work with him over the last little while. He’s annoyingly good at everything he does, particularly on the golf course. He’s one of those guys that’s got a high ceiling in terms of talent, particularly with bat in hand, and there’s a fair chance that he’ll get the opportunity in New Zealand to bat down the order and take the gloves.”