Cursory examination of the record from 1954 of Pakistan in England will show the hosts dominating, having won 20 Tests against Pakistan's 9. However, currently Pakistan enjoys supremacy winning the last two successive 'home' Test Series in 2011-2012 and 2015-2016. Moreover, Pakistans overall performance in 77 Test matches against England is quite competitive with 18 victories against 22 by the rivals.
Pakistans cricketing ties with England are nearly 65 years old and date back to 1951. Infact it was the outcome of an MCC teams first visit to Pakistan in November 1951 which had earned Pakistan full membership status of ICC on 28 July 1952. Led by Lancashire captain, Nigel Howard, MCC had broken the Indian leg of their tour and played two unofficial Test matches at Bagh-i-Jinnah, Lahore and Karachi Gymkhana Ground. Pakistan won the series 0-1 as MCC were beaten at Karachi by 4 wickets. MCC were the first to send congratulations on the victory and invited Pakistan to tour England in 1954.
Pakistan cashed the opportunity and achieved an unprecedented feat on the inaugural tour by winning one Test and leveling the series, which stunned the world. No other team since or before had been able to win a Test on their first visit to the mother country.
Pakistans current tour is the 14th since 1954. The Test series is the 24th between the two countries. In 62 years history of Test cricket between the two teams in England, England won 7 Test Series (1962, 1967, 1971, 1978, 1982, 2006 and 2010) while Pakistan has won three (1987, 1992 and 1996) the remaining three were drawn (1954, 1974 and 2016).
Pakistan had also toured England for the 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999 World Cups, the NatWest Series involving Australia as the third team in 2001, ICC T20 World Cup 2009, MCC Spirit of Cricket T20 Series vs Australia and MCC Spirit of Cricket Test Series vs Australia in 2010.
As another perspective on the Pakistan v England rivalry, the reader may enjoy reading
From torturing an umpire to spot-fixing, England v Pakistan: a difficult rivalry
Current Series
Ranked third in the world by ICC, on the measure of current strength Pakistan is one of the strongest teams in the world. Their batting and bowling is an excellent blend of youth and experience. Their main weapon is a potent and lethal fast bowling attack comprising of Mohammad Aamer, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan and Rahat Ali. Leg spinner Yasir Shah who played a key role in Pakistans success in UAE, has again expectedly made good use of that experience and climbed to the top of the ICC Rankings. Perhaps the only area which remains susceptible is the fielding, which needs to be addressed by the coach and captain during the tour. All in all Pakistan stands a good chance in the series.
It is worth mentioning that in recognition of internationally acclaimed humanitarian services and to pay tribute to a great Pakistan National Hero, the team will wear Edhi Foundation Logo during the England tour.
Here follows a brief account of Pakistans previous Test Series in England.
1954: Result 1-1
The first Test at Lords was drawn with no play on the first three days. Later Pakistan was cheaply dismissed for 87 but restricted England to 117-9 declared in the first innings. In the second at Nottingham, Denis Compton scored 278 and England amassed 558-6 declared which helped them overpower the tourists by an innings and 129 runs. Rain allowed only two days play in the third drawn Test at Old Trafford, Manchester. Finally, Pakistan gained their first Test victory in the fourth and final Test at the Kennington Oval, London against England and squared the rubber with Fazal Mahmood, the chief architect of victory claiming 12 for 99.
1962: Result 0-4
The Nottingham Test was drawn due to rain. England won by an innings at both Edgbaston and Headingley and by wide margin of 9 and 10 wickets respectively at Lords and at the Kennington Oval. This was the worst era of Pakistan cricket which ended the careers of Fazal Mahmood, Imtiaz Ahmed, Mahmood Hussain, Alimuddin, Wallis Mathias, Antao DSouza, Ijaz Butt, Haseeb Ahsan, Munir Malik, Shahid Mahmood and Javed Akhtar, thus 11 members of the visiting team retired after the ill-fated tour.
1967: Result 0-2
Honours were even in the first drawn Test at Lord's as 'Little Master' Hanif Mohammad scored an unbeaten 187. Ken Barrington scored a century in each of the three Test matches. Brian Close led England to victories at Trent Bridge and at the Kennington Oval but not before in the third and the final Test, Asif Iqbal and Intikhab Alam had created a new ninth wicket World Record of 190 runs which stood for the next 30 years.
1971: Result 0-1
Bad Light and rain on the fifth and final day prevented Pakistan's sure victory at Edgbaston after a magnificent knock of 274 by Zaheer Abbas and England had followed on. After second drawn Test at Lords Pakistan all along had held the upper hand until a surprising collapse on the final day of the third Test match at Headingley occurred and Pakistan narrowly failed to score 231 runs in 385 minutes, which somewhat unjustly, eluded Pakistan victory in the series. Sadiq Mohammad scored 91 and held the fort for long. England won by 25 runs.
1974: Result 0-0
All the three Test matches ended in a draw, the third Test at Kennington Oval was high-scoring, and after Rohan Kanhai and Wally Hammond, it was Zaheer Abbas with (240) who became only the third batsman to register first two centuries in Test cricket with a double century. Pakistan also did not concede any match on the entire tour.
1978: Result 0-2
Pakistan were not at their full strength and lost the first two Tests at Edgbaston and at Headingley by an innings. Ian Botham took 8 for 34 (2nd innings) and scored 108 at Lord's. Sarfraz Nawaz delivered his best with 5 for 39 in the rain-ruined third Test at Headingley.
1982: Result 1-2
This perhaps was the best-ever Test series contested between Pakistan and England till date. Pakistan under Imran Khan had gallantly fought the series. England won at Edgbaston and Headingley and Pakistan convincingly won the Lords Test by 10 wickets. It was Pakistans first victory in England after 28 years. Mohsin Khan scored a majestic 200. Pakistan captain Imran Khan was adjudged as player of the series and despite defeats player of both Edgbaston and Headingley Tests as well.
1987: Result 1-0
Pakistan recorded her first ever test series win in England. After first two Tests at Old Trafford and Lord's were marred by rain, Pakistan outplayed England by an innings and 18 runs at Headingley. Imran Khan took 7 for 40 (2nd innings) and in the process claimed 300 wickets in Test cricket. Pakistan scored their highest ever Test innings total (708) at the Kennington Oval where Javed Miandad scored a superb 260 and England were forced to follow-on but due to some resolute batting Mike Gatting and Ian Botham helped England escape defeat and the match ended in a draw.
1992: Result 2-1
This was a triumphant year for Pakistan. After winning the World Cup, Pakistan also won the series in England 2-1. During the series first they beat England by 2 wickets at Lord's but England avenged this defeat at Headingley by 6 wickets and then finally Pakistan clinched the series at the Kennington Oval by 10 wickets. Javed Miandad led the tourists.
1996: Result 2-0
Wasim Akram led Pakistan. At Headingley, the Test was drawn but at Lord's and at the Kennington Oval, Pakistan outplayed England convincingly. Inzamam-ul-Haq, Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Saeed Anwar and Saleem Malik scored superb centuries. Waqar Younis claimed 16 wickets.
2001: Result 1-1
England won the first Test at Lord's by an innings but Pakistan came back strongly to square the series at Old Trafford and won the second and final Test by 108 runs. Man of the Match Inzamam-ul-Haq played two brilliant innings of 114 and 85.
2006: Result 0-3
Pakistan team was in great form and in high spirits having won successive home series against England and India before taking this tour. Unfortunately, Pakistan could not maintain that rhythm despite some tremendous batting performances by Mohammad Yousuf who scored 631 runs at an amazing average of 90.14. The first Test at Lord's ended in a draw, England won the second Test at Old Trafford by an innings and 120 runs, England won again by 167 runs at Headingley (Third Test). But the fourth Test at the Oval ended in a fiasco and chaos, which was triggered by controversial umpiring and ball tampering allegations by umpire Darrel Hair which was followed by strong reaction by Pakistan team These controversies eventually resulted in the first-ever forfeiture of a Test match in the entire Test cricket history and England was awarded the match by ICC. Pakistan lost the series 0-3.
2010: Result 1-3
Despite Pakistans victory by 4 wickets in the third Test at the Brit Oval, the Pakistan team in the series was not equal to the task. They were dismissed for paltry scores of 80 (2nd innings) at Trent Bridge, 72 (1st innings) at Edgbaston and 74 (1st innings) at the Brit Oval. Resultantly, Pakistan lost all these three Test matches by huge margins of 354 runs, 9 wickets and an innings and 225 runs respectively.
But more than these defeats, the spot-fixing scandal at Lord's which later resulted in bans and prison sentences for three Pakistani cricketers caused great damage to Pakistan cricket and horrified crcicket fans the world over. The turmoil and after-effects are still not over.
Summary of Results: Pakistan v England Test Series in England - 1954 to date
| Year |
Tests |
Played |
Won |
Lost |
| 1954 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
| 1962 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
| 1967 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
| 1971 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
| 1974 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| 1978 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
| 1982 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
| 1987 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
| 1992 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
| 1996 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
| 2001 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| 2006 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
| 2010 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| Total |
47 |
9 |
20 |
Overall Record: Pakistan v England - 1954 to date
| |
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
No Result |
| Tests |
77 |
18 |
22 |
37 |
- |
| ODI |
76 |
29 |
45 |
- |
2 |
| T20I |
13 |
3 |
10 |
- |
0 |