Will England face another 'shocking Test-match pitch' in Multan?

Only in cricket do we get so hung up about the pitch the sport is played upon.

England may have taken a 1-0 lead in their Test series against Pakistan, but one of the talking points as records tumbled was the 22-yard strip in Multan.

And it could be more of the same in the second Test, which begins on Tuesday, as the two teams meet again at the same venue.

So what should the England and Pakistan bowlers expect once they have put their feet up for a day or two and rested their weary limbs? And why was there such a fuss about this latest pitch?

What was so 'shocking' about pitch?

The placid nature of the Multan surface made batting look easy at times in the first Test - well, if you came from Yorkshire that is!

Harry Brook, who became England's first triple centurion for 34 years, shared a partnership of 454 with Joe Root, beating the previous best of 411 made by Colin Cowdrey and Peter May 67 years ago.

It came as England posted 823-7 declared - the fourth-highest total in Test history - in response to Pakistan's 556, before bowling the hosts out for 220 on the final day.

Former England captain Michael Atherton pulled no punches with his assessment of the pitch used for the match.

"It's a shocking Test-match pitch," Atherton said on Sky Sports.

"If you don't have that balance between bat and ball, you're going to get a lot of poor cricket. So not a good pitch despite the fact there was a result."

Ex-England skipper Nasser Hussain said the surface was typical of pitches in Pakistan and that the end result "does not justify everything that went before it".

So exactly how much of a bowlers' graveyard was the pitch for the first Test?

Well, since Test cricket returned to Pakistan in 2019 there have been 16 Tests where ball-tracking has been available to Cricviz.

Of those 16 Tests, this Multan pitch produced the second-lowest amount of average swing (0.63 degrees) but was the third-highest when it came to seam (0.53°).

It is perhaps the spinners who toiled the most - certainly Pakistan's - with the amount of drift being the lowest of all 16 Tests (1.16°) and it was the fourth-lowest amount of turn (2.86°) seen in that time.

When England were victorious in Multan on their last tour of Pakistan in 2022, the highest score in the match was made by the hosts in the fourth innings - 328 - as England wrapped up a 26-run win.

'Roll it up, take it with me'

Former England seamer Steven Finn took a closer look at the pitch expected to be used for the second match.

"It looks wet at the moment but over the course of the next three days it will dry and be shaved down," Finn said.

"Getting the ball spinning and moving laterally, I think, is the way Pakistan can beat England - if they can at all.

"If they play them on 'shirt fronts' like they did during this first Test match it is England all the way."

Atherton, though, expects the groundstaff in Multan to serve up another featherbed.

"I don't see how the pitch in three days [for the next Test] can be much different to what we've just had quite frankly," he said.

England's bowling attack might not necessarily agree with him, but Brook would not mind if he has to take guard on another batter-friendly deck.

"It was an unreal wicket. I would like to roll it up and take it with me," the Yorkshire batter joked.

Hang on, why is the second Test also in Multan?

The venue for England's second Test in Pakistan was switched less than two weeks before the series began.

It had been due to be played in Karachi, but was shifted because of renovation work at the National Stadium.

There were suggestions that some or all of the series could be moved out of Pakistan to another country. The United Arab Emirates was mentioned as a possible destination.

England's third Test against Pakistan - 24-28 October - will be held in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan are set to host the Champions Trophy early next year with Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi reported to be hosting the games.

Could pitch influence England's selection?

Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir have 18 and 33 Test wickets in four and 10 matches respectively for England

England look set to make a least one change for the second Test with captain Ben Stokes likely to be available.

Stokes has not played since the beginning of August because of injury, which allowed Brydon Carse to make his Test debut.

But Carse's impressive performance with the ball would make him difficult to drop.

Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir finished with match figures of 1-156 from 38 overs, which would appear to make his place in the team vulnerable.

There have been seven Test matches at Multan since the ground opened in 2001 and only three bowlers have ever taken more than five wickets in an innings there - Abrar Ahmed, Danish Kaneria and Anil Kumble.

The common theme? They are all leg-spinners.

England do have a leg-spinner in their squad in the form of Rehan Ahmed, who took 5-48 on his Test debut against Pakistan in Karachi in 2022.

If England are looking for a different spin option, the 20-year-old could come into contention.