Wasim Akram saw the whitewash coming long before Pakistan set foot in England.
As the current side limps into the third and final Test at 0-2 down, the former captain says the outcome was obvious.
“I knew before the series we were going to lose 3-0 to England,” Akram told The Athletic. “Our batting is struggling, our bowling is below average and our fielding is worse. It’s not rocket science.”
This is not a throwaway line from a distant critic. Akram was at the heart of Pakistan’s golden days in England, part of the teams that won three straight Test series there between 1987 and 1996, captaining the side in the last of those triumphs. He knows what a hardened, battle-ready touring team looks like. He does not see it now.
A broken system laid bare
Pakistan have barely laid a glove on England in the first two Tests, and the panic has already reached the corridors of power. The Pakistan Cricket Board responded to the defeats with sweeping changes after the second Test: seven players sent home, head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his staff sacked mid-series.
The moves stunned the cricket world. They did not surprise Akram.
He feels for the players, but he does not spare them either.
“In Pakistan we have a saying: ‘You can only clap with two hands’,” he said, pointing to a shared responsibility between those on the field and those running the game.
Akram is constantly asked if he can “do something” to rescue Pakistan cricket. His answer cuts deeper than a simple change of personnel.
“These are the top players, there’s nothing else there. The systems aren’t there below that,” he said. The domestic first-class structure, he argued, has lurched from one model to another, leaving no clear pathway, no continuity. “The first-class structure domestically has been all over the place the last few years and there’s no consistency, no patience.”
The consequences are everywhere. In the dressing room. In the stands.
“That dribbles down to the fans, too. They see the team lose and they want to rip it all up, too. We’ve done that so many times and now there is nothing really left,” Akram said.
The cycle is familiar: a bad tour, a clean-out, a new regime, the same old problems. Pakistan arrive in England with a fragile squad and an unstable system behind it. The results, Akram suggests, were written long before the first ball of the series.
Worry for Imran Khan goes beyond politics
Away from the field, Akram’s thoughts turned to another former Pakistan captain, and a figure who towers over the country’s cricketing history: Imran Khan.
Akram revealed he has not spoken to Imran for three years but made clear his concern over the 71-year-old’s health as he remains in jail.
“I haven't spoken to him for three years. It's so unfortunate, politically, what's happening with him. The court of law is the court of law. But as far as his health is concerned, there can be no compromise on that,” Akram said.
He acknowledged there is a growing push in England and elsewhere to improve Imran’s conditions. Inside Pakistan, he is less certain.
“There's a movement in England and elsewhere (to improve Imran's conditions) but here (in Pakistan)? I'm not so sure,” he said. “I'm speaking from the heart as someone who is worried about him as a person. Convicted or not convicted. Jail or no jail. We need to safeguard his health.”
The government insists Imran is fine. Akram is not reassured.
“We don't know what's happening, the government are saying his health apparently is fine. But I'm worried. I miss him a lot.”
As Pakistan stumble towards a likely 3-0 defeat in England, Akram’s words hang over more than just a failing Test side. They speak to a cricket system stripped bare and to a country still wrestling with the fate of the man who once led it, and its team, from the front.
