England 'realistic' about Pakistan - McCullum

England will tour Brendon McCullum's homeland of New Zealand for three Tests before Christmas

Coach Brendon McCullum said England are “realistic” about the challenge in Pakistan, despite their recent success here and the hosts’ awful run of form.

England won 3-0 in Pakistan in 2022, the first time any visiting side had achieved such a clean sweep in this country. That series forms part of Pakistan’s 10-match winless run on home soil.

The tourists are without injured captain Ben Stokes for the first Test in Multan, beginning on Monday (06:00 BST), and only one of their trio of pace bowlers – Chris Woakes – has played a Test in Asia before.

As has become the norm for England, they have not played a warm-up game, with the home summer only finishing last weekend at the conclusion of the white-ball series against Australia.

“We go in with high hopes,” McCullum told BBC Sport. “There will be no excuses whatsoever if we don’t get where we need to get.

“We’re also realistic this is going to be a tough series, because Pakistan in their own conditions, as history would suggest, it’s a tough ask.”

Either side of a 10-year hiatus from playing on home soil following an attack by gunmen on the Sri Lanka team in 2009, Pakistan lost only two out of 13 home series.

But a 1-0 defeat by Australia in early 2022 began their winless run, the second-longest they have ever gone without a win in a home Test.

England can expect different conditions to their last trip, when the weather was cooler and the pitches flat. Now, temperatures in Multan for the first two matches in the three-Test series are around 36 degrees and the pitch is expected to be slightly green.

A key part of England’s win here two years ago was the performance of their seamers, but of the three that took part, James Anderson has since retired, Ollie Robinson has been dropped and Mark Wood is injured.

Now they have Woakes, who has not played an overseas Test in more than two years, Gus Atkinson, who not played an overseas Test at all, and Brydon Carse on debut.

Anderson has been acting as England's fast-bowling consultant since he ended his playing career in July, but is not arriving in Pakistan until day two of the first Test after playing in the Dunhill Links pro-am golf tournament.

And McCullum is "not worried" to initially be without the experience of England's all-time leading wicket-taker.

"Jimmy has been a great resource for us," said the New Zealander. "But prior to that we didn’t have a pace-bowling coach as such.

"In the world we live in, communication is easy. Jimmy is in constant communication with the guys. I don’t think it’s a big issue."

England also continue to be without Stokes, who will miss a fourth consecutive Test since injuring his hamstring in early August. Asked on Saturday if he will be fit for the second Test, starting in nine days, the all-rounder said he was “not sure”.

Ollie Pope will again deputise for Stokes and said he is “mentally ready” should he need to lead on the rest of the tour.

And Pope suggested that once Stokes is fit to play, it will be as an all-rounder, available to bowl.

“With those hamstring injuries it’s a bit more about setting off – the biggest risk comes with batting, when you set off for a quick single, or turn and go for two,” said Pope.

“His bowling will be fine when he does come back. Whenever he is fit to play, I’m sure he’ll be fit to bowl as well.”

Pakistan, coached by former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie, have included Aamer Jamal in their XI after the all-rounder recovered from a back injury. He will form a three-pronged pace attack with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.

Shan Masood has lost all five Tests since he was appointed captain last November, including a 2-0 series defeat at home by Bangladesh in August.

“There is a lot of hurt within the players,” said Masood. “This year, 2024, has not been a good year for Pakistan cricket all over and we like to see our fans happy.

“The answer is to be positive. We let the past go. We have tried to maintain consistency in selection. We haven’t had any chopping and changing because we have lost a few games.

“We believe in this set of players and with Jason Gillespie we wanted to create a squad mentality. The players are being backed to turn things around.”