Pakistan v England: Tourists wait to learn if series starts on Thursday

England are waiting to learn if their historic Test series against Pakistan can begin as planned on Thursday.

The Test series is England’s first in Pakistan in 17 years – they halted tours to the country following a gun attack on the Sri Lanka team in 2009.

A decision on the first day’s play is due early on Thursday morning.

The match is scheduled to commence at 05:00 GMT, with a call on whether the first day will go ahead or not likely come no later than two hours before that.

Talks between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were held after around 14 players and staff from the touring party were struck with a viral infection.

The options for the first Test are to carry on as planned, delay by a day and continue as a five-day match, or delay a day and play a four-day Test.

If the first Test is delayed and remains five days, that would leave only two free days before the start of the second Test in Multan, which is due to begin on 9 December.

The first day would only be postponed if it is felt that England are not be able to field a competitive team, as would have been the case had the match been due to start on Wednesday.

Last-minute hitch to historic tour

England’s last Test series in Pakistan was a 2-0 defeat in 2005. They have only ever won two Tests here, albeit 18 of the 24 contests between the two sides in this country have ended in draws.

In the time when England have not toured, Pakistan have twice hosted them in the United Arab Emirates, winning both series.

In the aftermath of the attack on the Sri Lanka team, Pakistan went six years without playing any sort of international cricket on home soil.

Zimbabwe were the first team to return for a white-ball series in 2015, with Sri Lanka playing the first Test back in Pakistan in 2019.

As a host of English players took part in the Pakistan Super League, the way was paved for England to tour, but a limited-overs series was called off in 2021 with a month’s notice after the New Zealand team received a “specific and credible threat” while in Pakistan.

England did eventually return to play a T20 series in September and October of this year, winning 4-3.

Both then and now they have been afforded a ‘presidential’ level of security, meaning an armed convoy through closed roads when they travel.

The series takes place against the backdrop of mass flooding that has devastated huge parts of Pakistan and England captain Ben Stokes has pledged his match fees from the tour to the flood appeal charity.

“Coming here is a monumental time for English cricket and for Pakistan as a nation,” said Stokes, before becoming one of the players struck down by illness.

“There are things that go on in life that are bigger than sport and I felt compelled just to give something that is bigger than cricket.”

A number of England fans and tour groups have made the trip to Pakistan. About 60% of tickets for the 15,000-capacity Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium are thought to have been sold in advance of days one and two. Greater crowds are expected over the weekend.

The match is a swift reuniting of the two teams that contested the T20 World Cup final earlier this month, with England prevailing in Melbourne.

Pakistan are chasing a place in the World Test Championship final at The Oval next summer, currently lying fifth in the table. England, in seventh, are out of contention.

“We are excited about that prospect of playing the final,” said Pakistan captain Babar Azam. “This is an important series for that and we have a golden chance to achieve that.”

For England it is the first overseas tour under captain Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. It will provide a stern examination of a swashbuckling style that brought six wins from seven Tests in the summer.

“The most important thing to remember is going out there and showing the intent we did in the summer,” said Stokes.

“We don’t feel like we want to be held back by the narrative of how Test cricket needs to be played. We’re in an era now with English cricket, with myself and Brendon leading the red-ball cricket about how we want to go out and play.”

England named their XI on Tuesday, with Lancashire all-rounder Liam Livingstone handed his Test debut and opener Ben Duckett recalled for his first Test in six years.