The dominant event, of course, was the Oval forfeit, in which Pakistan refused to play on after being penalised for ball-tampering. But even the three Tests prior to the Oval game had been troublesome. In the opening Test at Lord's, Pakistan earned a creditable draw, but remained on the back foot throughout the match. In the second Test, at Old Trafford, Pakistan capitulated to an innings defeat, and in the third Test, at Headingley, despite a spirited performance that saw them take a first innings lead, Pakistan eventually lost by 167 runs.

Pakistan's flaws in that series were an uncertain opening pair, vulnerability against sideways movement, and a bowling line-up lacking penetration. Except at Old Trafford, the middle-order of Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamamul Haq managed to get runs. Yousuf, in fact, enjoyed a purple patch with scores of 202, 48, 38, 15, 192, 8, and 128, becoming one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year. But Pakistan's bowling remained lacklustre and couldn't press home any advantage.

It was refreshing, then, to see Pakistan amass a first innings lead of 331 in the fourth Test at the Oval. Sadly, the delight was short-lived. When umpire Darrell Hair made the ball-tampering charge, Pakistan had England in a chokehold and appeared set to win the match. After the teams went to tea, Pakistan players holed themselves up in the dressing room, drama took over, and the cricket quickly became irrelevant.

It was as if umpire Hair, not the most amiable of figures to begin with, had cast a black magic spell on Pakistan cricket. Superstitious fans blame this curse of the Oval not just for the subsequent upheavals in Pakistan cricket, but also for the chaos that has marred Pakistani life in general ever since.

With this highly charged backdrop, Pakistan's 2010 tour of England is naturally being anticipated with great trepidation. The stakes are always high for an English summer, which is arguably the most prestigious outing on the international cricket calendar. But this time, with the potential to exorcise the demons of 2006, they are sky-high.

Pakistan's supporters and players can take heart from a long history of achievement and glory in England, going all the way back to the dramatic Oval victory on Pakistan's inaugural tour in 1954. After an embarrassing visit in 1962, trips in 1967 and 1971 saw some stirring performances. Then in 1974, Pakistan returned from a tour of England undefeated in each of the Test, ODI and first-class games, a feat that had not been achieved by a visiting team since the 1948 Australian tour led by Donald Bradman. In 1982, Imran Khan's first tour as captain, Pakistan nearly won the series, and in 1987, again under Imran, they actually did. Javed Miandad in 1992 and Wasim Akram in 1996 also led Pakistan to series victories on English soil. More often than not, Pakistan teams have toured England with their heads held high.

On this occasion too, Pakistan once again are a highly talented team and clearly have the potential to beat England. It will take effective leadership and a positive dressing-room atmosphere to transform this potential into reality.

Much depends, therefore, on how Shahid Afridi handles the mantle of captaincy. Many observers dismiss the idea of Afridi as a comprehensive cricket leader. Given his well-known traits of impetuousness and impulsivity, they find it difficult to see him as a responsible captain. Granted he has done reasonably well as a captain in Twenty20 internationals, but he hasn't played a Test since 2006 and we all know that Tests and ODIs are a very different ball game. It also doesn't help that Afridi is a compromise choice. Pakistan's ideal captain right now is Younis Khan, but for the moment at least there is too much baggage around him.

Nevertheless, there are some key things about Afridi that give hope. Whatever else you say about him, there is no denying that he is a match-winner. He had an awesome time in England last year, carrying Pakistan to the Twenty20 world title, so he is comfortable with the setting and conditions. His batting has shown signs of becoming more circumspect. His leg-spin bowling is a world-class weapon. He is an athletic fielder. And he is Pakistan's most experienced cricketer, having been on the international scene since 1996. He also comes with a hard-to-define X-factor, a kind of positive intent and energy that lifts the whole team. Admittedly, his appointment is something of a gamble, but in love and war (and sports are really a sanitised form of war) there is always something to be said for taking a gamble.

Although Pakistani fans constantly feel their team is lurching from one disaster to another, it is worth noting that in actual terms things haven't been too bad. As many observers have noted, Pakistan is the only country to have made the semi-final of every ICC tournament since the 2007 World Cup. This vaguely sounds like consistency, but of course none of us will admit it. In Test cricket, Pakistan went without playing in 2008, but after a long gap finally won a Test last December in Wellington. And while the Sydney Test may have ended in heartache, it wasn't before Pakistan had outplayed Australia three days straight. Given what we now know about internal team squabbles going on at the time, better team chemistry could have created a very different outcome for Pakistan in Australia.

Shahid Afridi's primary role will be to bring about this missing chemistry. From what we have seen of his captaincy so far, the responsibility appears to wear heavy on him. In the ODI series in Australia as well the Twenty20 world cup in West Indies, he has looked strained and burdened. Perhaps, as Imran Khan has stated, he just needs more time. The upcoming Asia Cup is a natural opportunity to help him settle into the job, and he will hopefully use it to good effect. Right after that, the England tour will start and there will be no looking back.