Pakistan soap opera (BBC Sport)

Just under five years have passed since Nasser Hussain led England to a 1-0 triumph in Pakistan in a three-match Test series.

Woolmer and Inzamam have had their fair share of frustration



The teams face each other in three Tests again next month, with the first game starting in Multan on 12 November.

England, now captained by Michael Vaughan, are likely to have only two survivors from the last series in their XI - Marcus Trescothick and Ashley Giles.

But there has been plenty going on in the other camp too, with coaches, captains and players coming and going.

BBC Sport takes a lot at the rapidly fluctuating fortunes enjoyed and endured by Pakistan since December 2000.



COACHING CRISES
Coaching a talented but temperamental team has proved a tricky job to hold on to.

Javed Miandad was at the helm in December 2000 but while Duncan Fletcher's tenure with England has continued, four different men have held the Pakistan post since.

WHO'S THE BOSS?
May 2001: Richard Pybus succeeds Javed Miandad
Jul 2001: Pybus quits
Aug 2001: Pybus returns
Oct 2001: Mudassar Nazar replaces Pybus
Sept 2002: Nazar axed, Pybus back
Mar 2003: Pybus quits, Miandad back
Jun 2004: Miandad axed, Bob Woolmer takes over



Legendary batsman and former captain Miandad was shown the door early in 2001 amid reports of dressing-room clashes with senior players.

His replacement, English-born Richard Pybus, quit following the subsequent England tour, citing a reluctance to relocate to Pakistan to prepare for the 2003 World Cup.

Pybus was persuaded to return, only to be replaced when he refused to travel from his home in South Africa to the team's training camp in Pakistan because of security reasons in the wake of the 11 September attacks.

The Pakistan Cricket Board turned to former Test all-rounder Mudassar Nazar but he paid the price for a poor run of results and Pybus was back less than a year later.

A disastrous showing at the World Cup convinced the Englishman that enough was enough and, lo and behold, Miandad was back in the hotseat.

He appeared to making more progress than in his previous stints, until he was somewhat harshly dismissed following the home defeat by India.

The PCB were keen on someone more technologically savvy, a description which the laptop-toting Bob Woolmer satisfied.

Woolmer has received more support from the media, his players and - more importantly - the notoriously fickle PCB than his predecessors, and looks set for an extended stewardship of the team.



CAPTAINCY CALAMITIES
While there has been a smooth transition from Hussain to Vaughan, Inzamam-ul-Haq is the fourth man to occupy the role for Pakistan.

Inzamam has ridden a few storms during his captaincy



Moin Khan, who was under pressure following England's last-gasp victory in Karachi, was ousted for the England tour and discarded altogether for two years.

His replacement, pace bowler Waqar Younis, paid the price for a dismal showing at the World Cup and wicket-keeper Rashid Latif came out of retirement to take the reins.

Disciplinary problems were Latif's undoing - he quit only six months into the job after being handed a five-match ban for claiming a disputed catch against Bangladesh.

Key batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq has been in charge on the field for the past two years - and has not been without pressure or criticism.

The home defeat by India last year and woeful performances in Australia last winter had many, including inspirational former skipper Imran Khan, calling for his head.

He held on somehow and proved his critics wrong with a stirring show of defiance in India earlier this year. His position appears safe - for the moment.



SELECTORIAL SHUFFLING
In the 39 Tests since losing to England, a staggering 46 different players have been used by Pakistan.

Even allowing for injuries and loss of form, it is quite amazing that the same team has been named for successive Tests only once - on the tour of Zimbabwe in November 2002.

Remember Farhan Adil, Riaz Afridi, Yasir Ali, Mohammad Asif, Humayun Farhat and Naved Latif? Well they all have one thing in common - a Test appearance.

Amid all the juggling of players, finding a successful opening partnership for the batting has been nothing short of impossible.

In their wisdom, the selectors have tried out 21 different combinations - compare that with the six England have had in the same period.



CONSISTENT INCONSISTENCY
All of the above factors are bound to have an effect on results and it is no surprise that almost as many Tests have been lost (16) as won (19), with only four draws.

Perhaps a product of the sheer number of one-day games played by them - 139 in the past five years alone - virtuoso displays have been frequently succeeded by abject capitulations and vice versa.

There have been celebrated highs like the fighting effort to share the series in India last year and embarrassing collapses such as being bowled out by Australia for 59 and 53 (their lowest ever Test total) in the same game in Sharjah in October 2002.

In the four years since official team rankings were introduced, Pakistan have gone from as low as eighth to as high as third before slumping back down to their current seventh place.



SO WHICH TEAM WILL TURN UP?
Woolmer has at his disposal a wealth of talent: prolific middle-order batsmen Younis Khan, Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf; a brilliant young leg-spinner in Danish Kaneria; and bowlers of searing pace in Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami.

Shoaib can be devastating - when he's fit and the mood suits him



But getting all of those fit and mentally tuned in to perform in all three Tests will be Woolmer's big challenge - quite often one department has fired, only to be let down by the other parts of the team.

The past 12 months - apart from a troubled tour of Australia, when they were drubbed 3-0 - has seen more disciplined displays, the result of players responding to Woolmer's innovative methods.

However, their most recent series shows not all their ills have been cured.

A crushing defeat by the West Indies in Barbados was followed up with an impressive victory in Kingston to square the series.

ive already posted parts of this earlier

Isn't there a policy of citing sources in this forum? Just asking because I am new.

Another few facts to remember.

Pakistan has used 21 different test opening combinations since they last played england at home.

This is also pakistans 1st 3 test match series against non-asian oppostion @ home (in pakistan) since they last played england.

Yes members are supposed to add the source in brackets int he title and the link with the article!