Pakistan will again use the same ground in Multan for the second Test against England

Jason Gillespie and Shan Masood, Pakistan’s coach and captain, looked over the pitch on Sunday morning, before Gillespie had a long chat with Tony Hemming, Australia’s PCB boss. The bowlers’ feet in the first Test looked dry and cracked, and they were dried out by the fans and the harsh sun.

Pakistan’s move is unusual, as it is rare for one country to conduct back-to-back tests. But ICC pitch rules only require “best field and off-field conditions” with no stipulation that the ground must be new or unused, and after 11 consecutive home Tests without a win, Pakistan may feel the need to try something different.

Anderson predicted that Pakistan’s plans would see spin play a bigger role, which he suggested could match England’s. “That’s a first for me in Test cricket,” he said. “If we talk about Ben’s workload and his bowling, that might play into our hands, as the spinners might play a big role… We don’t know what we’re going to get.

“When we came out of the last game, we saw it going up and down – especially on the floor – towards the back. The cracks started to open. I’m not a participant, but I don’t think you can make the cracks go back together. easily, certainly in three days you can expect it to do something without cracking again as it’s dry and hot and , you can expect spinners to play a bigger part.

There were signs of a flurry of changes on the final day of the Test as England wrapped up their victory, but Chris Woakes said he had given the “bugger all” to the bowlers. Kevin Pietersen, the former England captain, described it as a “bowler’s graveyard” on X/Twitter, and suggested that Pakistan should use it again in the second Test.

The second Test was scheduled for Karachi, but it was moved to Multan after notice due to the ongoing renovation of the National Stadium. The PCB has promised to refurbish it ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy, while Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium was absent from the England series for the same reason.