Azhar Ali: ‘Pakistan cricket cannot change in the space of a year’

One of the batting stalwarts of the team that reached Test No 1 a decade ago says the current side’s woes go far deeper than this tour of England

As a pillar of the Pakistan team that climbed from the nadir of the Lord’s spot-fixing scandal in 2010 to the top of the Test rankings six years later, all while playing overseas for security reasons, Azhar Ali knows a bit about overcoming a crisis.

But for all that Misbah-ul-Haq’s side offered hope back then – a reminder of Pakistan’s innate ability to overcome hardship and defy expectations – Azhar is currently looking on in despair at the state of their cricket and a tour of England that has pretty much imploded this past week.