Poor performances and turbulence at the PCB have left the team desperate to follow their visitors’ comeback example

When the imminent Test series against England was described as “a momentous occasion for Pakistan cricket” by the team’s coach, Jason Gillespie, he was not being hyperbolic. The players will gather in Multan on Monday desperate not just to win three games of cricket, but to cast off the stench of chaos and crisis that is hanging over them with ever-increasing pungency.

Pakistan have won three of their past 17 Tests and if they draw a blank in this series will have gone three full calendar years without beating anyone except Sri Lanka. After losing 2-0 at home to Bangladesh this month – the second home series whitewash of their history and of the past two years, the other coming when England last visited – they slipped to eighth in the ICC’s Test rankings, their lowest position since 1965. They were knocked out of the most recent 50-over and T20 World Cups in the group stage, suffering a humiliating defeat by the USA in the latter.