“When we came here from WI, the weather was hot,” Gul said at Lord’s on Tuesday. “It was a hot summer. We weren’t expecting it to be this cold. Even the practice match at Croydon, the weather there was hot. When we reached Headingley, it was totally different. It rained and the weather was cold. Obviously, you need to spend some time in that cold weather. That’s why we couldn’t bowl that well, and we couldn’t execute due to the weather. But I hope they acclimatise with the weather and do well in the next game.”

Perhaps it says something about the state of Pakistan cricket that they appeared to be placing a greater burden of expectation on weather forecasts in the UK than they have historically been able to bear. While the weather did indeed keep its word during the aptly named warm-up game in Beckenham, Gul suggested Pakistan appeared to have been caught unawares when things began to change. Trusting that hot weather in the south of England would hold as the visitors made the bus journey up to Yorkshire feels like a rocky foundation to build a game-plan upon, and one that swiftly came undone.

Gul believed the difficulty of acclimatising possibly accounted for the fast bowlers’ relative ineffectiveness in the first Test, where England needed to bat just once and put on 409 runs. “Because of the [change in temperature], I thought the bowlers were a little stiff. You have to get used to the weather. And I hope they’ll be fully ready for this next game.

“In the days leading up to the Test, we considered going in with four seamers. But on the day before the match, the pitch we saw had changed quite a bit, and playing a spinner turned out to be a good decision. But when you come here, you need time.”

There is, for Gul, perhaps a justified frustration at all the things out of his hands. He enjoyed his time in England, both internationally and on the county circuit, and would have walked into the current Pakistan pace attack at nearly any stage of his career. He can do little to coach them into becoming faster bowlers, and while he talked up Ubaid Shah as a future prospect, his possible inclusion would likely trade away some nous for a yard of extra pace.

Most tellingly, he deflected a question about Shaheen Afridi, who recently led his side to a domestic one-day cup trophy, to the selection committee, though not before he pointedly called him “Pakistan’s best bowler”.

“Maybe they thought it was better to give him some rest. He’s our best bowler, but our other bowlers are also doing well. Especially Ubaid Shah, he performed very well, and we’re expecting big things from him in the future. Abbas and Mohammad Ali were playing county cricket which is an advantage for us because they were available here. But I think the selection committee can give you a better answer about Shaheen.”

If there is one thing that matches the capriciousness of the English weather, then perhaps it’s the rapidly changing mood of any Pakistani selection committee. It’s hardly a fair world, then, wheh a man as gentle-spirited as Umar Gul has to deal with both at the same time.