Forget pitch-doctoring if you care about Test cricket, you should praise Pakistan's approach

The past two Tests have demonstrated one of the home side's prerogatives: shaping the conditions in which the match is played. When England reached Multan in the first Test, Pakistan could hardly have been more accommodating hosts if they had given every opponent a box of chocolates. England collected 823 for seven stated and crushed the hosts by an innings, extending Pakistan's run of consecutive defeats to six.

At that moment, Pakistan faced a choice. Continue preparing such inviting wickets, as they had done when England won 3-0 in 2022? Or maximize their chances of winning, even if that would lead to accusations of cheating? Anyone who cares about the integrity of Test cricket should be encouraged by the approach that Pakistan has embraced.

The two emphatic wins, first by 152 runs, and then by nine wickets that followed, should not obscure what a high-stakes match Pakistan played. Nor should it obscure the brilliance of Khan and Ali. The pair didn't just beat the English spin twins; they did so in a way that suggested Pakistan might have encountered a new template for how to play at home. Of course, the approach carried some risk; Batting second in Multan could have been fatal, although losing the toss was no burden for Pakistan in Rawalpindi. Yet, after their miserable run of eleven consecutive home Tests without a win, a more conventional pitch was altogether more dangerous for Pakistan.

England itself has often faced similar dilemmas. In both 1953 and 2009, England arrived at The Oval needing to win the final Test of the series to regain the Ashes. On both occasions, Australia misread the circumstances, failed to pick a specialist spinner and surrendered the urn, amid murmurs of pitch doctoring. Similar complaints were made when Australia, succumbing to a green-tinged wicket and a Dukes ball offering considerable swing and seam, were bowled for 136 and 60 in successive first innings in the 2015 Ashes. That's the beauty of home conditions: you can prepare a pitch that hopefully suits the home team, said Alastair Cook in 2010. That's what home advantage is and you'd expect everyone to do it.

Over the past two Tests, Pakistan have become just the latest example of this eternal truth. Of course, the fields must be monitored; the International Cricket Council ranks pitches according to a six-point rating system, from very good to unsuitable. Most importantly, pitches should not be dangerous to batsmen; the only danger to the English in Rawalpindi was their ego, not their limbs.

Pitches should also allow for a relatively even battle between bat and ball. In the second Test in Multan, Kamran Ghulam and Ben Duckett scored centuries. In Rawalpindi, Saud Shakeel hit another hundred; Jamie Smith came within 11 runs after scoring one himself; Pakistan's last three wickets added 167 runs in their first innings. These wickets thus offered a much more even contest between bat and ball and more convincing cricket than sterile pitches like those during the first Test or during Australia's 2022 visit to Rawalpindi, which produced 14 wickets over five days. And if England's sailors may be longing for circumstances that will give them more help, they will soon find it: on next month's tour to New Zealand.

From the roughness of Rawalpindi to the green-hued pitch they can expect in Christchurch, England will encounter almost the full spectrum of sporting conditions in successive Tests. That's how it should be: a game without such a variety of fields would be diminished. Test cricket's enduring challenge remains: to become a rare team that can rule them all. England is still a long way from such a company.