England collapsed to their first whitewash in a three-match series in 19 years on Monday.

The glory days cherished against Australia and India last year are long forgotten and their spot at the helm of the Test rankings is now very questionable. Andrew Strauss' men were entirely outplayed in the United Arab Emirates, where Pakistan fetched their first-ever clean sweep over the English.

A 324-run target - or batting out six sessions for the draw - across conditions that again fell right into the hands of the spinners was always going to be a daunting task. They didn't even get close, falling to 252 all out for a 71-run loss 30 minutes before the close of play on day four in Dubai.

The batsmen sported high hopes of bucking the torrid trend that marred them across the first two Tests, and looked good for a turnaround once Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook had made it to 48 without loss. The rest, though, were as dismal as the last. Unable to cash in on three dropped catches from an initially shaky Pakistan unit, England's promise was stuttering on 89 for two at lunch, and by tea 173 for six left the writing very much on the wall.

True to form, Matt Prior's cameo was the only consolation in another inadequate batting display from England. Ajmal took his series tally to 24 scalps with a fine four-for, while Umar Gul for once didn't play second fiddle to the slow bowlers. His figures were the most telling breach. On either side of the seamer's four-wicket haul, the spinners entwined their web around the top order and then tail-enders. There was little stopping them, with each of England's top eight batsman reaching double figures but not one of them making it beyond Prior and Cook's 49.

Pakistan's approach was the usual fare, with standard off-spin, the odd doosra and Gul's probing line at the fore of the charge. Strauss should have played forward, Trott's lack of discipline saw him perish on the slog-sweep, Pietersen's forward defence was found wanting and Cook fell prey to a great catch in the slips from Younis Khan.

Ian Bell later swatted a weak, wide delivery straight to point, Eoin Morgan was undone by a seaming peach, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann's big hits were never going to last long and James Anderson and Monty Panesar faltered as typical tail-enders. Pakistan's procession was a quick one, the damage done to England's spirits will take a lot to rectify.

Requiring less than 11 days of cricket to trump an opposition four spots higher than them in the Test rankings, Misbah-ul-Haq and company can now be considered at the top of their game. The worry of the spot-fixing saga seems to be at its end, a blossoming future awaits.

England, though, will want to hurry through the limited-overs leg of the tour, hastening their focus to the upcoming Tests in Sri Lanka, where the selection of Pietersen, Bell or Morgan ahead of Ravi Bopara cannot continue.