Pakistan rises

To the followers of Pakistans brilliant and baffling cricket,the decimation of England in three days was not entirely unexpected. The ruins that Misbah-ul-Haq inherited from Salman Butt after Pakistans 2010 summer of humiliation have coalesced into a fine cricketing edifice. In 2011,Pakistan have beaten New Zealand in New Zealand,drawn 1-1 with the West Indies in the West Indies,and trumped Sri Lanka. Misbahs men came into 2012 behind only England on performance,having won 6 and lost 1 of their 10 Tests the previous year; Saeed Ajmals 50 wickets were the most in Tests in 2011; and Mohammad Hafeezs 10 Man of the Match awards in all formats were the most in a calendar year ever after Sachin Tendulkars 13 fourteen years ago.

And yet the 10-wicket thumping of Andrew Strausss side the well prepared,well rested World No 1 which have been well nigh unbeatable since the 2009 Ashes must have been sweet; interim coach Mohsin Khan called it a boost to the nation. For the benighted,beloved Pakistani sport snatched from its stadiums after the March 2009 terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lankans,Dubai would have raised more than a fleeting vision of the golden phoenix.

On a separate note,there is a trend that the Pakistani resurgence symptomises which is the increasingly visible flattening of the elite cricketing world. Over the last couple of years,nearly every team has beaten every other,at grounds all over the world,a fact that need not be missed in the blinding agony of Indias most recent overseas performances. There is no Steve Waughs or Ricky Pontings Australia lurking beyond the sightscreen,and in the glorious uncertainties of Test match results these days lies delicious hope for the games greatest format. Pity the Test championship wont happen until at least 2017.