# Pakistani cricket team in England in 2018

The Pakistan cricket team toured England between April and June 2018 to play two Test matches. Ahead of the Tests, Pakistan played first-class matches against Kent and Northamptonshire. They then travelled to Dublin to play Ireland in their first Test match, before playing a two-day match against Leicestershire ahead of the first Test against England. At the end of the tour they played two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Scotland in Edinburgh. The Test series was drawn 1–1.

## Squads

| England | Pakistan |
| Joe Root (c) James Anderson Jonny Bairstow (wk) Dom Bess Stuart Broad Jos Buttler Alastair Cook Sam Curran Keaton Jennings Dawid Malan Ben Stokes Mark Stoneman Chris Woakes Mark Wood | Sarfaraz Ahmed (c, wk) Asad Shafiq Azhar Ali Babar Azam Faheem Ashraf Fakhar Zaman Haris Sohail Hasan Ali Imam-ul-Haq Mohammad Abbas Mohammad Amir Rahat Ali Saad Ali Sami Aslam Shadab Khan Usman Salahuddin |
In April 2018, Pakistani leg-spin bowler Yasir Shah was ruled out for ten weeks, due to stress fracture of a hip, causing him to miss the entire tour. Yasir reportedly needed to "undergo extensive rehabilitation". The Pakistan selectors were said to be considering either leg spinner Shadab Khan (who was chosen) or left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti as replacement.
Babar Azam of Pakistan was ruled out of the remainder of the Test series after fracturing his forearm when he was hit by a delivery from Ben Stokes on the second day of the first Test. For the second Test, Keaton Jennings was added to England's squad, with Mark Stoneman being dropped. Sam Curran was also added to England's squad for the second Test, as cover for Ben Stokes, who suffered a hamstring injury.

## Tour matches
### First-class: Kent vs Pakistan

* 28 April–1 May 2018 Scorecard
* Match drawn St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: Jeremy Lloyds (Eng) and Steve O'Shaughnessy (Eng)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* No play was possible on days 2 and 3 due to rain. No play was possible on day 4 before lunch, also due to rain.

### First-class: Northamptonshire vs Pakistan

* 4–7 May 2018 Scorecard
* Pakistan won by 9 wickets County Cricket Ground, Northampton Umpires: Ian Ramage (Sco) and Martin Saggers (Eng)
* Northamptonshire won the toss and elected to bat.

### Two-day match: Leicestershire vs Pakistan

* 19–20 May 2018 Scorecard
* Match drawn Grace Road, Leicester Umpires: Peter Hartley (Eng) and Chris Watts (Eng)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

## Test series
### 1st Test

* 24–28 May 2018 Scorecard
* Pakistan won by 9 wickets Lord's, London Umpires: Paul Reiffel (Aus) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Mohammad Abbas (Pak)
* England won the toss and elected to bat.
* Dom Bess (Eng) made his Test debut.
* Alastair Cook (Eng) equalled Allan Border's record of playing in 153 consecutive Tests.
* This was the first time since 1995 that England had lost their opening home Test of the summer.

### 2nd Test

* 1–5 June 2018 Scorecard
* England won by an innings and 55 runs Headingley, Leeds Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Aus) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Eng)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* No play was possible before 14:45 on day 2 due to rain.
* Sam Curran (Eng) and Usman Salahuddin (Pak) both made their Test debuts.
* Alastair Cook (Eng) set a new record of playing in the most consecutive Tests (154).