As a person who was born and bred in England I have looked on with horror over the last two Test series in England as I have repeatedly watched Tim Paine and Jason Holder send England in to bat.
It's never a good idea in England. And it's definitely not a good idea against the 2019/2020 England team.
Let's just take a step back and look at the occasions on which it has happened:
2019 v Australia at Lords
Match drawn, with Australia 4 wickets away from defeat after England scored 258 in the First Innings.
2019 v Australia at The Oval
England won by 135 runs after scoring 294 in the First Innings.
2020 v West Indies at Old Trafford
England won by 113 runs after scoring 469-9 in the First Innings.
2020 v West Indies at Old Trafford
England on course to win after scoring 369 in the First Innings.
This should be a clear and important lesson for Pakistan. Four times in the last two summers England have lost the toss and been inserted to bat: and they have won 3 of them convincingly and they almost won the drawn Test too.
There's another lesson here too. It means that Pakistan should be trying their hardest to ensure that they bat first and bowl second and fourth. That means that they can forget about Sohail Khan or Mohammad Abbas bowling in cloudy conditions on a juicy Day One wicket - it's not going to happen.
Pakistan need to plan to score 250+ on Day 1, so that they can try to defend a score of the same size on Day 5 on an inconsistent surface.
It's never a good idea in England. And it's definitely not a good idea against the 2019/2020 England team.
Let's just take a step back and look at the occasions on which it has happened:
2019 v Australia at Lords
Match drawn, with Australia 4 wickets away from defeat after England scored 258 in the First Innings.
2019 v Australia at The Oval
England won by 135 runs after scoring 294 in the First Innings.
2020 v West Indies at Old Trafford
England won by 113 runs after scoring 469-9 in the First Innings.
2020 v West Indies at Old Trafford
England on course to win after scoring 369 in the First Innings.
This should be a clear and important lesson for Pakistan. Four times in the last two summers England have lost the toss and been inserted to bat: and they have won 3 of them convincingly and they almost won the drawn Test too.
There's another lesson here too. It means that Pakistan should be trying their hardest to ensure that they bat first and bowl second and fourth. That means that they can forget about Sohail Khan or Mohammad Abbas bowling in cloudy conditions on a juicy Day One wicket - it's not going to happen.
Pakistan need to plan to score 250+ on Day 1, so that they can try to defend a score of the same size on Day 5 on an inconsistent surface.