The Cricketer identifies the key narratives ahead of the three-Test series as the behind-closed-doors summer continues...
Chilean miners were hauled from a cave after being trapped for 69 days. Flight MH370 went missing. Barack Obama was re-elected and then replaced by Donald Trump as United States president. Olympic Games were staged in London and Rio.
Ten-and-a-half years have passed since Fawad Alam last pulled on a Pakistan shirt for a Test match. It is more than five since his last international outing in any format. But via the Lincolnshire Premier League, Lancashire League, and outings for Sui Southern Gas Corporation, Alam is back in the Test fold.
It says as much about Pakistan's fragile batting line-up, as it does about the 34-year-old's own form that he is now on the brink of a remarkable red-ball return for his country. His first-class form in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy has been impressive, with his haul of 1,480 runs in his last 26 innings including seven centuries and three fifties.
Of course, replicating that form against the moving ball in England is an altogether different challenge. There is a feeling that at 34, and with the international cricketing landscape an uncertain one, he deserves one last turn on this tour. Haris Sohail's absence at least improves his chances.
Batting coach Younis Khan told PakPassion: "I firmly believe that whenever he gets a chance, he will perform because he is a player who has performed so much and given sacrifice.
"It’s difficult for a player to keep performing in domestic cricket year after year. Motivating oneself becomes difficult."
Alam will likely have to wait for his opportunity, but a brittle batting line-up provides an opportunity. Abid Ali and Shan Masood will open up, with Asad Shafiq and Shadab Khan - who will operate as the back-up spinner - either side of 'keeper Mohammad Rizwan. It would be a major surprise if the top six isn't tinkered with at least once before the end of the series.
Will Fawad Alam complete his return to international cricket?
The debate around England's bowling selection policy often ignores the embarrassment of riches at their disposal. There is arguably no greater dilemma in world cricket right now.
Rotation will once again be the name of the game, with three Tests in as many weeks. After taking 16 wickets across the final two Tests of the West Indies series, the biggest question must surely surround when to give Stuart Broad a breather. Or if to at all.
The key to any decision is the fitness of Ben Stokes. If the allrounder is fully fit, it negates the need for four front-line seamers, as was the case in the third Windies Test when Zak Crawley was omitted and Chris Woakes accompanied James Anderson, Jofra Archer, and Broad.
Mark Wood and Sam Curran are also options and it seems unlikely that we won't see them again before the end of the series.
Emirates Old Trafford and The Ageas Bowl have both lacked pace, which makes the use of both Archer and Wood particularly important. Though both have had their moments already this summer, there is a feeling Joe Root is flogging a dead horse by rolling them out on tracks which are almost built to nullify them.
Movement in the air and off the seam is surely going to be undoing of this Pakistan batting order. Anderson, Broad and Curran may well be first choice, particularly given the latter is a passable allrounder.
Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. Pakistan have brought some iconic and infamous bowling tandems with them to England. And 2020 is set to be no different.
Shaheen Afridi and Nassem Shah's combined age might be less than England's all-time Test wicket-taker James Anderson, but what the pair concede in experience they more than makeup for in ability and exuberance.
This is as fearless and talented a fast-bowling pair as Pakistan have ever possessed. Their Test future is in good hands even while the likes of Amir are turning their back on the format. As England drift towards extreme pace in their attack in preparation for the Ashes, Afridi and Shah are capable of going toe-to-toe with their opponents on the speed gun.
Neither quick seems intimated by the grandeur of the Test match stage. David Warner, Steve Smith, Angelo Mathews, Mahmudullah, and Faf du Plessis are already among their victims across just 12 outings in the format.
Watching a fast-bowling pair kicking their heels up is one of the great sights at any level of cricket. Afridi and Shah can roll back the years this summer, and give Pakistan a real chance of a first series win on these shores since 1996.
Pakistan could play two spinners in Old Trafford Test, says Misbah-ul-Haq
Of all the sights live crowds will be deprived of this summer, watching Babar Azam's poise and grace at the crease is surely the one which stings the most.
The 25-year-old is emerging as Test cricket's next superstar batsman. He averaged 56 in 2018, 68.44 in 2019, and returns to England with a point to prove.
Azam played just one Test innings on his last visit to England, retiring hurt when Ben Stokes struck him on the arm and ruled him out of the series. He still finished on an unbeaten 68.
Having returned from Australia - where Pakistan were destroyed by the hosts - with an average of 52.50, and dominated on the sub-continent, success in England is missing from his CV. Granted, he was astonishing in last summer's T20 Blast and impressed in the 50-over World Cup, but the Dukes ball presents the ultimate challenge.
After five years in international cricket, what is clear is Azam has a technique that allows him to adapt to conditions. He is light of foot and clear of mind.
Virat Kohli arrived in England in 2018 having averaged just 13.40 on his last visit. While India were washed away in the series, Kohli was sensational, hitting two centuries and three fifties. He stood out of his crease, nullifying swing, and the rewards soon followed.
It will be fascinating to see how Babar works it out.
Here, have a Babar Azam on-drive.#AUSvPAKpic.twitter.com/7ZSlMa3rf8
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) December 1, 2019
In the modern age, few teams can have been poorer prepared for a three-Test series than this Pakistan side. And nearly every circumstance has been out of their hands.
They arrived in England in late June, starting in Derby before moving to Manchester for the first Test. They will have been operating under bio-bubble regulations for five-and-a-half weeks before they see a competitive delivery bowled.
Positive COVID-19 tests for 10 members of the original party means their departure has been truncated. Indeed, Haris Rauf's arrival over the weekend means the full 29-man group will only have been together for a matter of days before the tour gets underway.
Players who initially tested positive for coronavirus had to return two negatives before they were eligible to travel. They were then all re-tested upon arriving in England.
Practice for the series has been restricted to intra-squad matches at Derby. Much of the squad has not played a first-class game since March. Others have not featured in a competitive game since the Pakistan Super League. The ring rust will be palpable.
Furthermore, they will come up against a side who have been pushed all the way in three Tests against the West Indies, amid conditions they have now had time to adapt to. England have lost the first Test in their last five series but they will surely fancy ending that run in Manchester against their undercooked opponents.
Will England turn to the old guard once again?
The Edge was shown on BBC Two over the weekend, harking back to one of the greatest and most successful England teams ever assembled.
The 4-0 series win over India in 2011 which took England to No.1 in the Test rankings acted as the final chapter of that group's success. Divisions began to surface and the cracks started to appear thereafter. Andrew Strauss would only last another year as skipper.
That victory was the last time England won three bilateral Test series in a row. Alastair Cook's tenure was punctuated with various successes, but never did he achieve that level of consistency.
Having seen off South Africa in the winter and West Indies earlier this summer, Joe Root can end nine years without three straight series wins against Pakistan.
And yet, unlike with the class of 2011, this particular run would feel like the start of something, rather than the end.
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