Two teams desperate for success meet when England and Pakistan begin a three-test series on Wednesday in Leeds.
Neither has won a series of two tests or more in almost two years. England's last such triumph was in December 2024 in New Zealand. Pakistan's last was in October that same year at home against England.
Since then there's been mainly suffering.
England's Ashes series in Australia unravelled in less than 11 days. England was blown away as coach Brendon McCullum overestimated and underprepared his side, and captain Ben Stokes lost faith in Bazball.
England had a chance to wipe the slate clean but McCullum and Stokes stayed. In June, Stokes over-celebrated a win against New Zealand achieved on a trashy Lord's pitch and was suspended, and the no-nonsense Kiwis ruthlessly came from behind and took the series.
McCullum was sacked as the test coach, while Stokes retired after a selfish last grasp at glory in Nottingham.
Doubts about England's leadership succession planning emerged when the captaincy was given to Joe Root ahead of test vice-captain and white-ball skipper Harry Brook, who was endorsed by Stokes.
Root has won only one of his last 18 tests as captain and his tactics baffled at The Oval in June while Stokes was absent. But Root said one of the big reasons he selflessly agreed to lead again was to develop a deep relationship with new coach Stephen Fleming that Stokes had with McCullum.
But Fleming will miss the Pakistan series. He was appointed in July with permission to return to his New Zealand family having just split with Chennai Super Kings.
Fleming and England will come together for the South Africa tour in December. Marcus Trescothick has interim charge and only two full training days before the first test after most of the squad were involved in the Hundred.
Similar to Root, Babar Azam was given a second stint as Pakistan captain. Shan Masood was sacked after Pakistan was swept in Bangladesh 2-0 in May and equalled its worst losing streak overseas at seven consecutive tests.
Babar, steady but unambitious as captain, thrives with the responsibility with a batting average above 50. His team lost a record eighth straight test last month in the Caribbean but they ended the streak two weeks ago against the West Indies in Port of Spain to bring some confidence to England.
However, Babar is a doubt for Headingley due to a hand injury received in the West Indies and again in a three-day warmup match last week. He will be a game-day decision, fast bowler Mohammad Abbas said on Monday.
If Babar misses out, Saud Shakeel and Awais Zafar will fill the middle order. Shakeel missed the West Indies tests over fitness concerns but scored a century in the warmup game, and Zafar debuted in the second West Indies test.
Masood broke his left index finger in the first West Indies test and missed the second but has been practicing. If Masood is still unfit, Abdullah Shafique will continue at No. 3; in his first test since October he scored 160 not out in the Port of Spain win.
Pakistan won there on a turning pitch that the visitor predicted by choosing two spinners, Sajid Khan and Ali Usman. They took 14 of the 19 West Indies wickets. Pakistan may go the two-spinner route again because of England’s summer-long drought. Headingley traditionally helps seam and spin.
England opener Emilio Gay, back from a shoulder injury, also played in the warmup but made a pair, caught at second slip and caught behind.
England's lineup was mostly set two weeks ago. Jordan Cox will bat at No. 3 for the injured Jacob Bethell and Dan Lawrence, recalled after two years, is first to try and fill Stokes' allrounder role. Lawrence's off-spin allows England to play a fourth seamer.
What the team doesn't have to worry about is a midnight curfew. Root ditched it.
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FILE - Pakistan's Babar Azam celebrates after scoring fifty runs during the first one day international cricket match between Pakistan and Australia, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, File)
Pakistan coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, left, and Babar Azam attend a nets session at Headingley, Leeds, Monday Aug. 17, 2026, ahead of the 1st Test match against England on Wednesday. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
FILE - England's Joe Root leaves the pitch after losing his wicket during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Opening statements began Monday in the trial of a man accused of orchestrating the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, the start of weeks of testimony revisiting what happened on a Las Vegas night nearly 30 years ago.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, is charged with murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in Shakur's death. He pleaded not guilty, but if convicted, faces life in prison.
Davis entered the courtroom in a blue suit and tie and scanned the audience to see who was there before sitting next to his lawyer Michael Sanft once the jury was sworn in and seated.
Members of Shakur’s family, including his stepbrother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, sat quietly in the front row of the courtroom behind prosecutors.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal showed jurors a picture of the Mike Tyson fight with the date “September 7, 1996” and showed video of Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.
“Let’s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew, Palal said. “Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself."
The long-unsolved drive-by shooting gripped the hip-hop community, partly because no one was charged until Davis was indicted in 2023.
Shakur remains a cultural icon and is considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time, despite dying at 25. He was nominated for six Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
In recent years, he received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, had a street in Oakland named in his honor and inspired a character in the upcoming video game "Stranger than Heaven.”
A few fans lined up early Monday for a coveted seat in the courthouse to watch the first day of testimony. Din Malone took a bus from Denver and hopes to stay for the entire trial.
“As a brother and a fan, I felt like he talked through his music,” said Malone, who wore a Tupac shirt and played Shakur’s music from his phone while waiting to get inside.
Over the course of the trial, which could span weeks, prosecutors plan to call 35 to 45 potential witnesses, and the defense will call only a handful to testify.
Maurice Shakur recently told The Associated Press that sitting through the trial will be retraumatizing for the family, but it's important to be there.
“We’re gonna stand by Pac as we always have,” he said.
Along with Shakur's family, friends and fans traveled to Las Vegas to show their support during jury selection.
Darryl Harper, a veteran music producer who collaborated with Shakur at Death Row Records on songs released after the 1996 shooting, said he booked a plane ticket as soon as the latest trial date was set.
“He became a personal friend of mine as I worked with him almost every day of his last days here,” said Harper, who flew in from his home in Georgia.
Shakur's cousins Kendrick Lesane and William Lesane flew in from Atlanta last week. William Lesane said he wants someone held accountable.
“For me, justice has long left the station 30 years ago,” he said.
The gunfire that killed Shakur came from a white Cadillac that Davis was riding in with three others, all who have since died.
In 2008, Davis spoke to investigators looking into the deaths of Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace. During the investigation, Davis was under an agreement that what he said about Shakur's killing couldn't be used against him. But nearly 10 years later, Davis published a book with those details and participated in media interviews in which he laid out his role in the shooting.
The book and his public statements revived the Las Vegas investigation and became key pieces of evidence, prosecutors say.
"Had he decided to never write the book, he would not, probably, have ever been prosecuted for the crime,” prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo recently said.
Sanft says Davis co-authored the book “Compton Street Legend” to make money, not to tell the truth. He argues it's impossible to tell which parts — if any — Davis wrote and which parts author Yusuf Jah penned.
Jah, who is on the list of potential witnesses, recently told an investigator he didn't believe Davis fully read his own book, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say the book is sensationalized but that they'll show “what is true, what is exaggeration, and what is an outright lie,” they wrote in court documents.
Associated Press journalists Ty ONeil in Las Vegas and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Duane Davis enters the courtroom after a break in the third day of jury selection in his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP, Pool)
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal questions a prospective juror during the third day of jury selection in Duane Davis murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP, Pool)
Chief Deputy District Attorneys Marc DiGiacomo, left, and Binu Palal confer during the third day of jury selection in the Duane Davis murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP, Pool)
Duane Davis appears in court during the third day of jury selection in his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP, Pool)
