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England XI
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Will Jacks, Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
Just the one change, Wood for the injured Livingstone.
England win the toss and will bat
Buckle up!
Air pollution
One definite issue is today’s air quality in Multan, rated as unhealthy. Polluted air is particularly detrimental to people doing exercise, as well as children, pregnant women and old people. Where is the ICC?
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The air quality in Multan on Friday is rated unhealthy. The PM2.5 concentration is 13.6 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value, with recommendations to wear a mask outdoors and avoid outdoor exercise. Pretty tricky on day one of a Test @ECB_cricket @TheRealPCB @ICC
— TheNextTest (@TheNextTest) December 8, 2022
Greetings from a cold and frosty UK. The carols are playing and from here things look bright in Multan, one of the least high-profile cricket stadiums in the world. The ground only made its Test debut in 2001, today’s second Test between England and Pakistan will be its fifth bells and whistles Test cap.
What have we learned in the, er, three days since the totally amazeballs end to the last Test with all those men prowling close enough to pull the loose threads on Mohammad Ali’s shirt and the light dramatically drawing in? Well, Ben Stokes has stroked his beard and suggested he might go for some even more extreme tactics because of Multan’s early-morning fog and the late-afternoon dusk. At this stage, nothing would be surprising.
Team wise, Mark Wood replaces the injured Liam Livingstone, in a not-like-for-like swap; while Ollie Pope keeps the gloves over the recovered Ben Foakes – which is rotten luck, if understandable from an England point of view.
Pakistan look as if they will be without Naseem Shah after he hurt himself in the first Test, and are definitely without the injured Haris Rauf. Babar Azam is reported to have asked for a spinning pitch – but let’s wait and see.
Right , I must go to bed and get a few hours sleep. See you soon – play starts at 5am GMT.
