England 184
Pakistan 50/1 (23 ov)
Stumps - Pakistan trail by 134 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
England's new summer began with old failings as they were bowled out for 184 by Pakistan on day one of the first Test at Lord's.
Joe Root's side, who did not win in seven Tests over the winter and have endured long-standing problems with their top order, succumbed to a string of poor shots.
On a cloudy morning and faced with a green-tinged surface, Root opted to bat on winning the toss, only for his team to be undone by a Pakistan pace quartet that exposed their shortcomings.
Former skipper Alastair Cook, who has struggled for consistency, made 70, but England lost their last five wickets for 16 runs.
Opening bowler Mohammad Abbas took 4-23 and Hasan Ali, a star of Pakistan's Champions Trophy triumph in the UK last year, picked up 4-51.
The tourists found themselves batting in the evening gloom, yet were taken to 50-1 by Azhar Ali and Haris Sohail, the latter dropped on 16 by Ben Stokes off Mark Wood.
The suspicion is that Pakistan are stronger with the ball than with the bat, but, with sunshine forecast for Friday and the pitch likely to get better for batting, the tourists have the opportunity to take a firm grip on this match.
New season, same England
After a winter when they surrendered the Ashes and lost in New Zealand, England would have expected to feel more comfortable on home soil, where they have lost only one series in the previous five years.
Though Pakistan can take credit for the way they used the conditions, they were helped by an England team that gave wickets away with a combination of recklessness and indeterminate footwork.
Opener Mark Stoneman, under pressure to keep his place, was the first of five men to fall driving, bowled by Abbas by one that nipped through the gate. Hasan accounted for both Root and Dawid Malan, Root edging a drive at a ball so wide he could barely reach and Malan's flat feet led to a poke behind.
Jonny Bairstow, promoted to number five, looked solid for 27 in stand of 57 with Cook, but he was bowled pushing at Faheem Ashraf.
Stokes, playing his first match in England since the incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September, looked to have no trouble adjusting after a stint in the Indian Premier League but, like Bairstow, was dismissed out of the blue when Abbas pinned him leg before for 38.
Jos Buttler, recalled largely on the back on his IPL form, had 14 from as many balls before he flashed Hasan to second slip. From there the tail, including debutant Dom Bess, folded in the space of six deliveries.
Fluent Cook provides silver lining
Cook had managed only one half-century in 17 innings since 243 against West Indies at Edgbaston last summer, albeit if that was an unbeaten 244 in the fourth Ashes Test.
Here, as he played his 153rd consecutive Test and equalled the record of Australia great Allan Border, he looked close to his best.
Cook left the ball well and displayed assured footwork, but the most eye-catching feature of his play was as string of fluent cover drives.
The opener survived a very close lbw review from Faheem on 23 but, that aside, was the solid presence that England's flimsy batting so desperately needs.
Even Cook, though, was found wanting for his dismissal. A lack of footwork left him in no position to play a Mohammad Amir delivery that held its line up the Lord's slope and clipped the top of off stump.
Pakistan reap the benefits of preparation
Pakistan's tour began in April and has already included three matches against counties and a Test victory in Ireland.
Indeed, their XI for this match has more days of first-class cricket between them this summer than England's - 126 to England's 82.
Their readiness for this match shone through with the accuracy of their bowling and quality of their catching.
Captain Sarfraz Ahmed said he would have bowled if he had won the toss and was vindicated by a pace-bowling unit that barely bowled a short delivery and moved the ball, particularly in the air, throughout the day.
Asad Shafiq's smart catch off Buttler at second slip and Amir's athletic dive to hold Wood at mid-on typified a near faultless display in the field.
Although Imam-ul-Haq was lbw to Stuart Broad for four, Azhar and Sohail survived a tough period under the floodlights, even if Sohail was missed when third slip Stokes dived at a chance that would have gone straight to second slip Malan.
Day 2
England 184; Pakistan 350-8
Pakistan 50/1 (23 ov)
Stumps - Pakistan trail by 134 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
England's new summer began with old failings as they were bowled out for 184 by Pakistan on day one of the first Test at Lord's.
Joe Root's side, who did not win in seven Tests over the winter and have endured long-standing problems with their top order, succumbed to a string of poor shots.
On a cloudy morning and faced with a green-tinged surface, Root opted to bat on winning the toss, only for his team to be undone by a Pakistan pace quartet that exposed their shortcomings.
Former skipper Alastair Cook, who has struggled for consistency, made 70, but England lost their last five wickets for 16 runs.
Opening bowler Mohammad Abbas took 4-23 and Hasan Ali, a star of Pakistan's Champions Trophy triumph in the UK last year, picked up 4-51.
The tourists found themselves batting in the evening gloom, yet were taken to 50-1 by Azhar Ali and Haris Sohail, the latter dropped on 16 by Ben Stokes off Mark Wood.
The suspicion is that Pakistan are stronger with the ball than with the bat, but, with sunshine forecast for Friday and the pitch likely to get better for batting, the tourists have the opportunity to take a firm grip on this match.
New season, same England
After a winter when they surrendered the Ashes and lost in New Zealand, England would have expected to feel more comfortable on home soil, where they have lost only one series in the previous five years.
Though Pakistan can take credit for the way they used the conditions, they were helped by an England team that gave wickets away with a combination of recklessness and indeterminate footwork.
Opener Mark Stoneman, under pressure to keep his place, was the first of five men to fall driving, bowled by Abbas by one that nipped through the gate. Hasan accounted for both Root and Dawid Malan, Root edging a drive at a ball so wide he could barely reach and Malan's flat feet led to a poke behind.
Jonny Bairstow, promoted to number five, looked solid for 27 in stand of 57 with Cook, but he was bowled pushing at Faheem Ashraf.
Stokes, playing his first match in England since the incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September, looked to have no trouble adjusting after a stint in the Indian Premier League but, like Bairstow, was dismissed out of the blue when Abbas pinned him leg before for 38.
Jos Buttler, recalled largely on the back on his IPL form, had 14 from as many balls before he flashed Hasan to second slip. From there the tail, including debutant Dom Bess, folded in the space of six deliveries.
Fluent Cook provides silver lining
Cook had managed only one half-century in 17 innings since 243 against West Indies at Edgbaston last summer, albeit if that was an unbeaten 244 in the fourth Ashes Test.
Here, as he played his 153rd consecutive Test and equalled the record of Australia great Allan Border, he looked close to his best.
Cook left the ball well and displayed assured footwork, but the most eye-catching feature of his play was as string of fluent cover drives.
The opener survived a very close lbw review from Faheem on 23 but, that aside, was the solid presence that England's flimsy batting so desperately needs.
Even Cook, though, was found wanting for his dismissal. A lack of footwork left him in no position to play a Mohammad Amir delivery that held its line up the Lord's slope and clipped the top of off stump.
Pakistan reap the benefits of preparation
Pakistan's tour began in April and has already included three matches against counties and a Test victory in Ireland.
Indeed, their XI for this match has more days of first-class cricket between them this summer than England's - 126 to England's 82.
Their readiness for this match shone through with the accuracy of their bowling and quality of their catching.
Captain Sarfraz Ahmed said he would have bowled if he had won the toss and was vindicated by a pace-bowling unit that barely bowled a short delivery and moved the ball, particularly in the air, throughout the day.
Asad Shafiq's smart catch off Buttler at second slip and Amir's athletic dive to hold Wood at mid-on typified a near faultless display in the field.
Although Imam-ul-Haq was lbw to Stuart Broad for four, Azhar and Sohail survived a tough period under the floodlights, even if Sohail was missed when third slip Stokes dived at a chance that would have gone straight to second slip Malan.
Day 2
England 184; Pakistan 350-8
Babar Azam top-scores with 68 but forced off injured
On a grey day at Lord’s the situation grew grimmer for the home side. The pattern of the game was sustained as Pakistan outplayed England by dint of solid, unspectacular, old-fashioned virtues. This is not how Pakistan are supposed to prevail. In the past the inspired, stream of consciousness cricket of Waqar and Wasim, Mushtaq and Qadir, and Anwar and Inzamam has enthralled and intimidated, depending on your vantage point .
But here for two sessions the Pakistan team was clinical and patient, dutifully grinding down an England side which contains three players who in recent times have been accustomed to spending only 20 overs in the field at any one time. Then in the final session they played a few more shots against a weary attack.
England had to work hard to remove all the batsmen except Sarfraz Ahmed, whose top-edged hook would have provoked stern words in the dressing room were he not the captain. Four batsmen exceeded 50, one of whom, Babar Azam, had to retire hurt having been hit on his left forearm by a short ball from Ben Stokes, who produced the most hostile bowling of the day. That spell aside, when Stokes bowled nine consecutive overs interrupted by the tea interval, the England bowlers were no more than persistent, while their out-cricket was far from flawless; four chances of varying difficulty were spilt.
In cloudy conditions, where the ball obstinately refused to swing as much as it did for Pakistan on Thursday, the batsmen were prepared to wait for their chance of runs in the knowledge that the ball can speed away from the square at Lord’s like putts from the wrong side of the green at Augusta. Pakistan were prepared to play the long game and they did so with great resolution and a little luck since there was always sufficient movement for the ball to pass the outside edge. On similar days in the past Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson have run through sub-continental teams here.
Run-scoring seemed easiest at the start. In the first half hour when Anderson over-pitched in vain pursuit of swing Haris Sohail drove him for two fours in an over and it was not until the introduction of Mark Wood that a wicket fell. Maybe anticipating another bouncer Sohail was stuck on the crease and edged to the keeper. Anderson looked more dangerous – especially against the right-handers – when he switched to the Nursery End. He found a suggestion of away swing and dispatched Azhar Ali lbw for a valuable 50.
England could not capitalise after lunch despite bowling Anderson and Broad in tandem. On 10 Babar offered a tricky catch off Anderson, low down and to Alastair Cook’s right at first slip. A poor review against Asad Shafiq for lbw when Wood was bowling hinted at England’s frustration. So much for home advantage. In archetypal English conditions it was Pakistan who were taking control. An edged upper cut by Shafiq and he became the second half-centurion in the Pakistan innings.
Until now Stokes had been sparingly used. Root had allowed Dom Bess his first prolonged spell in Test cricket and he bowled competently enough; but he discovered neither a hint of turn nor any batsman who might be in the least alarmed by some conventional finger-spin. A small error in length and the batsmen, relieved to have a bit of respite from the seamers, patted the ball away into the gaps.
Stokes inconvenienced them a great deal more in the fieriest spell of the innings, during which he occasionally exceeded 90mph. On 59 Shafiq cut in the air and Jos Buttler in the gully took off to his left, parrying the ball towards Dawid Malan at second slip but it did not reach him, a technical chance but not an expensive miss. Stokes steamed in again and this time Shafiq could only parry a short, fast delivery, this time in a gentle parabola straight to Malan.
Just before tea Stokes set his field for bouncers, which were duly delivered and the mercurial Sarfraz soon obliged with a top-edged hook, whose descent kept Wood at fine leg waiting for a disconcertingly long time. But the catch was taken.
After the interval Stokes continued, taking the new ball rather than Anderson. Now Babar, who had batted purposefully throughout, failed to pick up another short delivery, which thudded into his left forearm. After a long delay in which the physio surveyed the damage, applied an ice pack and – who knows? – asked the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Babar left the field, with tests later confirming he had suffered a fractured wrist.
England may have sensed that the door was ajar but now two young all-rounders, calmly and with some silky strokeplay, closed it. England’s out-cricket became ever more fallible. Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf had already added 50 together when two more chances went begging. In consecutive overs Faheem, on 29, edged between Jonny Bairstow and Cook off the exasperated Wood. Then Cook dropped the most straightforward chance of the day, a regulation slip catch given by Shadab on 30 off Anderson. This pair had added a sparky 72 together when Anderson could smile, though certainly not beam in exultation, at another Test wicket, having bowled Faheem off the inside edge.
Shadab flailed once too often at Stokes after making a sparky 52 but at the close Pakistan were 166 ahead, which should be more than enough.
England may have sensed that the door was ajar but now two young all-rounders, calmly and with some silky strokeplay, closed it. England’s out-cricket became ever more fallible. Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf had already added 50 together when two more chances went begging. In consecutive overs Faheem, on 29, edged between Jonny Bairstow and Cook off the exasperated Wood. Then Cook dropped the most straightforward chance of the day, a regulation slip catch given by Shadab on 30 off Anderson. This pair had added a sparky 72 together when Anderson could smile, though certainly not beam in exultation, at another Test wicket, having bowled Faheem off the inside edge.
Shadab flailed once too often at Stokes after making a sparky 52 but at the close Pakistan were 166 ahead, which should be more than enough.
Day 3
England 184 and 235-6; Pakistan 363Jos Buttler and Dom Bess lead England fightback after collapse
Then Buttler and Bess, both revelling in the chance to show their worth rather than fearing the consequence of another failure, calmly restored order by batting throughout the final session in an unbeaten stand of 125. Bess posted his maiden Test half-century and the debutant had the nerve, when acknowledging the crowd’s applause, to give the impression that this was a routine event for him - without quite succeeding.
This was a heartwarming moment even for those not born west of Taunton. At the very least this pair have delayed the inquests into a horrid performance by England at Lord’s. Currently they lead by 56 with four wickets in hand, far from ideal but it could have been so much worse.
Until Saturday’s final session the only thing that England had won in this match was the toss – and that did not do them much good. Pakistan have batted, bowled and caught better against all the odds. It is May; it is England in their own backyard (if we can refer to Lord’s so irreverently). So all had seemed set fair for Joe Root’s side after the travails of the winter. For two days conditions were archetypally English with a greenish pitch below and cloud cover above, perfect for playing against a callow Pakistan side, currently ranked seventh in the world, or so we thought.
To claw their way back into this game England had to mount a significant second innings score on the third day and there was reason to believe that this was possible. The sun was out; the pitch had changed colour with the green tinge fast disappearing.
But then England started batting and by tea they were in disarray. As in the first innings, Pakistan’s bowlers were wonderfully disciplined; they bowled full and straight and with their supple wrists behind the seam they found flickers of movement; they were supported by alert, rather than athletic, fielders eager to snaffle any chance that came their way and comforted by the fact that only Root among the top order threatened any kind of permanence. The rest were out of form or out of luck and appeared almost resigned to the fact that the task ahead was too monumental - the first-innings deficit was 179.
The Pakistan bowlers propelled some serious deliveries to undermine the top order but even during the periods in between the fall of wickets, there was the impression that England were going nowhere. This sense of fragility was triggered in the second over of the innings when Alastair Cook was lbw to Mohammad Abbas. It was a devilish delivery to any newly-arrived batsman since it jagged down the slope before thudding into the knee roll of Cook’s pad, one of those lbws where the experienced batsman does not even bother to glance at his partner to check the merit of a review. Instead Cook turned immediately and headed towards an uncomfortably silent Long Room.
Mark Stoneman was clearly out of touch but determined to hang on in there, if only to earn the sobriquet “Stonewall”, and he survived long enough to prompt Sarfraz Ahmed to introduce his spinner. Stoneman edged a boundary against Shadab Khan and was then scuttled by a nasty delivery that turned out of the rough and kept low before hitting the off-stump. This was a “respectable” dismissal but in this match there has been no evidence to suggest that Stoneman has a place in England’s strongest XI for the Headingley Test, which starts next Friday.
Dawid Malan was barely more fluent alongside Root. The crowd was uneasy, willing England to progress, cheering the odd delicate boundary from Root, not out of any patriotic fervour; they just craved a contest. A deft late cut against Mohammad Amir took Root to his 50, out of a total of 76 for two, which demonstrated the gulf between him and the rest.
Then the game swung violently after the drinks interval in the afternoon session. Another tentative prod against Amir from Malan produced an edge and a fine sprawling catch by Sarfraz, diving to his left. Two balls later Jonny Bairstow was bowled by a perfect in-swinger from Amir; it’s hard to replicate those in practice however assiduously you go about your business.
Ben Stokes announced himself with two crisp boundaries before departing to a soft dismissal. He punched a shortish ball from Shadab firmly to mid-wicket, where the substitute fielder, Fakhar Zaman, held a fine catch. When Root was lbw to the constantly impressive Abbas for 67, England had slumped to 110 for six and all was glum at Lord’s. Then the mood was magically lifted by Buttler and Bess.
There was nothing unorthodox from Buttler. He was positive but never extravagant in his strokeplay and, unlike several others, he is manifestly seeing the ball well, just as he was for the Rajasthan Royals 10 days ago. Unsurprisingly, Bess was tentative at the start but not overawed. Then he hit two flighty boundaries against Faheem Ashraf and he settled in, stroking six more fours with ever-increasing assurance. Meanwhile, Buttler was happy with an unaccustomed, avuncular role at the other end. Probably for the first time in the match, the new national selector Ed Smith wore a smile.
Day 4
England 184 and 242; Pakistan 363 and 66-1
Abbas and Amir fire Pakistan to nine-wicket win
After that little oasis of serenity on Saturday evening, England reverted to type. In the space of 25 minutes wild hopefulness gave way to grim haplessness as their second innings subsided from 235 for six to 242 all out. No one was predicting an England victory overnight but it was reasonable to expect that the rearguard action might still be in operation at noon and that they could head to Leeds this week with something to savour.
Instead they will travel north humbled and humiliated, with their confidence in shreds having been thrashed on their own patch at headquarters by a side ranked seventh in the world, two places below them – though that will change if England perform as ineptly at Headingley. Pakistan won by nine wickets; they performed superbly but unspectacularly like solid old pros who understood the prevailing conditions precisely. And they are supposed to be the callow side. Pakistan bowled full and straight and let the ball swing and seam a little; they batted with grit and patience and they caught their catches. That was more than enough to overwhelm an England team in some disarray.
The England collapse on Sunday morning was numbing. Jos Buttler had batted with great authority on Saturday but in the second over he pushed forward to Mohammad Abbas and was struck on the pad. He reviewed but with no great optimism. Then the new ball polished off the rest at a rush. Mark Wood and Stuart Broad were both caught behind and last man out Dom Bess lost his off stump. Mohammad Amir and Abbas were in clover, taking four wickets each in the innings.
In pursuit of the 64 runs needed to win Pakistan lost Azhar Ali to a fine delivery from Jimmy Anderson. Thereafter there were few alarms. Unlike the first innings, Bess made several deliveries turn but in a hopeless situation he was nowhere near accurate enough to exploit the rough developing outside the left‑handers’ off stump. Rather than inform us about the long-term prospects of Bess excelling at this level, this simply demonstrated what an excellent cricket pitch had been provided at Lord’s, even though England had been woefully unable to exploit its properties. It seamed at the start; it flattened out and if we had reached the fifth day it would have spun.
The scale of this defeat has been so emphatic and unexpected that there will be a hue and cry, which will incorporate calls for the sacking of Trevor Bayliss and/or Joe Root – it seems a little bit early to demand the head of the new national selector, Ed Smith. Of course, Bayliss and Root will continue unless Andy Flower, who is standing in for Andrew Strauss this summer, makes the most spectacular of interventions so early in his role as a locum.
Yet it would be a surprise – and a mistake – if England arrived in Leeds with exactly the same squad. This does not feel like one of those occasions where a defiant selector or coach bellows “same team, different performance, please”. So these are interesting times for Bayliss and Smith and there will be an early indication of how they view the selection process.
At Lord’s we have witnessed a listless, tepid performance from the batsmen, many of whom look haunted by the prospect of another failure that might terminate their careers. The inclusions of Buttler and Bess were modest successes and, if nothing else, they surely highlighted the benefit of fresh faces and minds, which see challenges rather than almighty burdens.
At crisis moments like this selectors must clarify their priorities. They can become tortured and confused if they decide that “fairness” is priority number one; that should not be the case. Priority number one is to pick the best team for the next match. It might be unfair to drop Mark Stoneman for Headingley after just one Test this summer but it is incredibly hard to conclude that he is currently England’s best bet at the top of the order.
All the signs are that Stoneman can be only a modest Test batsman; to achieve that he has to be in good form and full of confidence. Patently that is not the case at the moment. Indeed, we may be reaching a stage when dropping him is almost doing him a favour. By the same token Dawid Malan, even though he has a little more credit in the bank, does not really convince. He battled hard in the Ashes series; indeed, he looked more comfortable than most on harder, bouncier pitches. Since then Test cricket has been a struggle. It might be even more unfair to omit Malan for Headingley but it must also be a consideration. Despite witnessing the capriciousness of the selectors in the 80s and 90s my view is that the trend now is to slavishly stick to the same men until the evidence that they should be dropped is incontrovertible. Maybe it is time to anticipate a decline.
The problem for Smith and Bayliss is that the names of likely replacements are not obvious. Just about the only potential England opener yet to march out with Alastair Cook is Middlesex’s Nick Gubbins, who has enjoyed a prolific start to the season. If he has a weakness against spin, which has been suggested, it is unlikely to be critical against Pakistan at Headingley. Other alternatives are, by definition, not entirely convincing – otherwise they would already be in the team. They range from the 33-year-old James Hildreth to the 22-year-old Joe Clarke, neither of whom has played Test cricket, to recent has-beens such as James Vince and Keaton Jennings. My impression, albeit after a solitary Test this summer, is that it is time to twist rather than stick.
2nd Test
Day 1
Pakistan 174 all out;
England 106-2
The International Cricket Council is contemplating the virtues of getting rid of the toss in Test cricket. Well, there are two captains, Joe Root and Sarfraz Ahmed, who might welcome being spared the agony of deciding what to do every time they win the toss. They are also becoming unwitting advocates of abandoning this idea.
At Lord’s last week Joe Root, despite a surprisingly green tinge to the playing surface, batted and England subsided to 184 all out on the first day. Here Sarfraz did the obvious thing. The pitch was dry and brown; the sun was trying to creep through hazy cloud, a task it rarely fulfilled; Pakistan batted and were bowled out for 174 and that total was bolstered by a late rally led by the irrepressible Shadab Khan. By the close England sat contentedly at 106 for two. Once again losing the toss had proved to be a wonderful bonus.
This was not the Headingley of old when batsmen were constantly tormented by low movement off a treacherous track but the ball swung all day, often late in its flightpath and there was enough pace and bounce there for the majority of the nicks to carry. Batting was a trial whenever the bowlers’ radar was working.
The Pakistan wickets were shared by a quartet of seamers, which included Sam Curran, who was given his first Test cap by Graham Thorpe at 10.15am after it was established that Ben Stokes was not fit to play. Curran’s first Test wicket was donated to him five hours later when Shadab, stranded with the last man, swung vigorously only to be caught at deep midwicket by Keaton Jennings. When Curran relates this landmark to his grandchildren (a long time from now – he’s only 19) he might point out that Jennings was England’s regular forward short-leg in this match and that his victim succumbed in the old leg trap. That may be enough detail; in any case it does not matter how you get that first one.
The other pacemen took three wickets apiece, which constituted a satisfactory return for Chris Woakes, who was preferred to Mark Wood, partly because, in the absence of Stokes, England were required to rejig the batting line-up.
Stuart Broad, no doubt pricked by the observations of the odd former colleague in the media, was the first to get the ball swinging. In his first over Imam-ul Haq was given lbw by Rod Tucker, only to review successfully with the ball shown to be going over the stumps. No matter; Imam swung wantonly at the last ball of Broad’s over and Root held a neat catch at third slip.
It was already apparent that the ball was swinging though in his first spell Jimmy Anderson was not able to exploit this as clinically as usual. Broad remained determined to bowl full while there was movement and he was rewarded with the wicket of Azhar Ali with an lbw that the batsman immediately recognised could not be reviewed.
Woakes had not bowled with a red ball since the Melbourne Test – he was using a pink one in Auckland, after which he was dropped – and he bowled a horrible first over; a wide long-hop was followed by a long half-volley and eight runs to the total.
But he settled well after that, comforted by the fact that the ball was moving more for England here than it did at Lord’s. Soon Woakes had the key wickets of Haris Sohail and Asad Shafiq, both caught in a slip cordon that functioned better than in the first Test, though there was one inexpensive drop by Dawid Malan, the new second slip, who had been hampered by the sight of Root diving towards him.
At lunch Pakistan had sunk to 68 for four and within another half an hour they were 79 for seven as the old firm set to work. Anderson was now on target and he removed Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf, while Broad ensured that Usman Salahuddin’s first day as a Test cricketer would end in disappointment; he was lbw for four.
Mohammad Amir opted for valour rather than discretion and was caught behind off Anderson for 13 prompting the Yorkshire crowd to start chanting “Oh Jimmy, Jimmy …” as if he was one of their own.
Now Pakistan rallied through Shadab and a belligerent Hasan Ali, who added 43 together. Occasionally, Woakes’s rustiness was evident. As ever a bad ball at Headingley stood up and begged to be hit but a sharp caught and bowled brought the end of Hasan Ali, not long before Curran celebrated his first wicket. By now the sun had obligingly resurfaced, which meant that batting was easier when Alastair Cook and Jennings began England’s reply.
Jennings was positive in attack and defence. His ploy of standing almost a foot out of his crease when facing Mohammad Abbas was well conceived and executed; there was even one disdainful cover drive hit with such certainty that he could stand and admire the ball speeding to the boundary. Cook also hinted at fluency with his feet moving nimbly and they posted an opening partnership of 53, which equalled the highest for England since the start of the Ashes tour.
Jennings looked to be relishing his return but his departure was limp. He prodded forward to Ashraf and in the last millisecond before playing the ball he may have decided to leave it. The ball feathered his outside edge and a golden opportunity had passed.
The same applied to his partner an hour later. After adding 51 with Root with few alarms Cook managed to glove an ugly bouncer from Hasan and was caught behind down the leg side, a disappointing end to a heartening day for England.
For the moment, at least, the ship has stopped listing.
Day 2
Pakistan 174
England 302/7 (96 ov)
England lead by 128 runs with 3 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
The second Test at Headingley has officially been designated the Participation Test - a call to arms from the ECB for everyone with a passing interest in English cricket to get involved, and (so the unspoken reasoning goes...) help dig the sport out of something of an existential crisis.
Ever the diligent corporate citizens, England's Test cricketers have been leading from the front in that regard at least, and will go into the third day against Pakistan with a solid advantage borne of a collective team effort. After a four-way share of the wickets in the first innings, today it was the turn of all the batsmen to chip in for the greater good.
A total of nine scores between 16 and 49 - everyone taking a turn but none for so long that their team-mates would get bored waiting - added up to an overnight lead of 128. It is the sort of position that ought, on the evidence of the series so far, to prove decisive. But it hardly added up to a decisive performance.
Pakistan simply kept chiselling away, their skilful attack finding sufficient magic at irregular intervals to dislodge a series of well-set players. But England were once again complicit in their own downfalls, and it was telling that their outstanding player of the day was their 20-year-old nightwatchman Dom Bess, whose cover-driving evoked Joe Root at his most fluent, but whose spin bowling - his primary suit - has yet to claim a Test wicket, or even bowl an over in this match.
Root himself is becoming something of a past master at the unconverted start, and once again, he inadvertently set the tone for England's innings with a typically attractive but ultimately underwhelming 45. He was the first man to depart as play got underway at 2.45pm after a three-hour rain delay - snicking outside off as Mohammad Amir's left-arm line once again exposed a slight chink in an otherwise enviable technique.
His technical issues, however, were as nothing compared to those that Dawid Malan was experiencing by the end of England's winter in Australia and New Zealand. Like his fellow left-handers, Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings, he appeared to have reached for an off-the-peg remedy, in setting himself up outside of his crease and willing himself on to the front foot at every opportunity.
And just like Cook in particular, the approach appeared to be paying dividends for Malan, not least with the clarity of his cover-driving. He went to tea on 28 from 70 balls, with five fours to his name and the air of a batsman who had found the answer to his struggles. But then, from his first ball of the resumption, he received a snorter from that man Amir, which bounced and left him, taking the shoulder of the bat as it did so, before looping invitingly to slip.
Bess, by contrast, hasn't got a care in the world right now. He'd like, presumably, to pick up that elusive first Test wicket at some point in the near future, but at the age of 20, and with the confidence of youth, he's used his batting to showcase his credentials as a player who is made of The Right Stuff . A second consecutive Test fifty appeared a done deal, especially when he scuffed a Shadab Khan full toss to ease along to 49. But then one ball later, Shadab bit back with his best ball of the match so far - a fizzing top-spinning legbreak that slammed the gloves and nestled in the hands of slip before the batsman really knew what had happened.
Pakistan could - no, should - have taken three wickets for 20 runs in the space of five overs when Buttler, looking to bat with the same controlled belligerence that had briefly raised England's spirits at Lord's, clipped Shadab uppishly into the leg side, and straight through the hands of Hasan Ali at short midwicket. But the moment was lost, and so too seemed the momentum, especially when Jonny Bairstow successfully overturned an lbw appeal on 8, after offering no shot to Faheem Ashraf.
But that wasn't quite the end of the resistance. Faheem got his man in his next over instead, as Bairstow nibbled outside off, having just helped himself to three fours in the space of seven balls. The fact that his dismissal came on the stroke of the 80th over rather added to the soft-headedness of the moment, even though Pakistan then chose to delay the new ball, perhaps to give Amir an extra over or two to gather his strength.
Either way, Mohammad Abbas didn't waste it when he was finally handed it, and produced another pearler in the channel outside off to account for Chris Woakes for 17. It was left to Sam Curran to finish the day with a mini-flourish, two fours from the final three balls brought up England's 300 and underlined their eventual dominance. But it had been a circuitous route to the top.
Day 3
Pakistan 174 & 134
England 363
England won by an innings and 55 runs
It is a pity there is no third Test. This one at Headingley was a mirror image of the match at Lord’s except this time England were the resounding victors as Pakistan were thoroughly outplayed. Thus the series ended at 1-1 after no more than six days’ play and it would be a brave person who could predict what would happen if they met again. No doubt England, after a thumping victory by an innings and 55 runs at Leeds, would be confident of prevailing but so they were before the first Test.
Here everything went better than anticipated for selectors as well as players and punters. There was blistering strokeplay in the morning from Jos Buttler; he reached his half-century with a pull for six off Mohammad Abbas. It is debatable whether that came from the middle of his bat but the one he hit on to the rugby ground/ building site in the middle distance off Faheem Ashraf most certainly did. It was just as well that this was Sunday, when innocent construction workers were putting their feet up at home.
Buttler was left on 80 not out and the rest of us were left wondering why convention had not been defied earlier by parachuting the white-ball king into the Test team. It is still early days in Buttler’s renaissance as a Test player but this is an experiment that must run and run.
So England had a lead of 189 and by lunch Pakistan’s three senior batsmen were back in the pavilion. Then the youngsters, with a bit of help from old Chris Woakes, took centre stage with Dom Bess taking his first three Test wickets and Sam Curran, on his 20th birthday, chipping in. It may never be as gloriously simple for this fresh-faced pair but along with the return of Buttler they have brought zest and charm to a side that was in danger of stagnating. Along the way their naivety will be exposed now and again but there is no doubt that both of them are relishing being Test cricketers.
The Pakistan batsmen were as hapless as England’s at Lord’s as they were bundled out for 134. First Azhar Ali, the senior man unable to show the way in this series, played all around a full‑length delivery from Jimmy Anderson. Then Haris Sohail punched a drive in the air from the middle of his bat to the left of mid-off. Stationed in this vicinity was Bess, who dived, stuck out a large left hand and it was there that the ball magically resided, a superb catch beyond the capacity of most English off-spinners of my experience. This is not the first time that Bess has had onlookers gasping at his capacity to conjure wickets in the field. Then Asad Shafiq was given out on review when feathering a leg-side catch off Stuart Broad so that Pakistan were creaking at 48 for three at lunch.
There were 45 minutes of tranquillity after the break when the pitch had a little doze, and Imam-ul-Haq and Usman Salahuddin were suitably watchful against the old firm. Now Root gave Bess his first bowl of the match. To his first ball Imam skipped down the track and pummelled the ball straight for four; he opted to block the last ball of the over, missed it and was lbw in the modern manner after reviewing unsuccessfully. So the irrepressible Bess had registered his first Test wicket.
Out came Sarfraz Ahmed oozing gung-ho aggression in response to an almost hopeless cause. He, too, cracked his first ball from Bess to the boundary and then crunched drives against the pacemen at the fielders before he was palpably lbw to Woakes, whose return to Test cricket was only marred by having to leave the field with “tightness to his right quad”.
Next Shadab Khan succumbed to Curran, caught at slip by Alastair Cook, a more conventional mode of dismissal than the left‑armer’s first wicket in Test cricket. Now Root could happily fiddle around with his quintet of bowlers amid minimal resistance. The batsmen swung and the fielders unerringly took their catches. Both Faheem Ashraf and Salahuddin holed out against Bess, who ended up with three for 33, and then Stuart Broad returned to mop up the tail to give him match figures of six for 66.
So are we any wiser? For many the conclusion after Lord’s was that Trevor Bayliss as coach was obviously a complete duffer on the verge of losing his job so, after this remarkable resurrection, is he now a minor genius? Of course both these conclusions are way wide of the mark. There must be relief for Root and the rest of the England camp at their first win in nine Tests. The players have atoned for that horrible performance at Lord’s.
The rehabilitation of Buttler is an obvious and intriguing plus and the blooding of the two uncluttered 20‑year‑olds, Bess and Curran, has added sparkle to the team. They have so much to learn but they are hungry to do that. They are not tailor-made solutions and they will not necessarily be regulars from here onwards; the old pros will query Curran’s lack of pace and Bess’s rawness as a bowler on flat pitches but this was hardly the day to dwell upon that.
In the meantime the sharing of 11 wickets by Broad and Anderson has provided their most eloquent argument for staying in the team together. But this is nothing more than a start to the rehabilitation of England’s Test team. There is now a two-month hiatus. Come 1 August and for the next Test the pitch (at Edgbaston) will probably be flatter and the opposition (India) more formidable, but in the intervening period we are at least spared a constant feeling of foreboding.
England 302/7 (96 ov)
England lead by 128 runs with 3 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
The second Test at Headingley has officially been designated the Participation Test - a call to arms from the ECB for everyone with a passing interest in English cricket to get involved, and (so the unspoken reasoning goes...) help dig the sport out of something of an existential crisis.
Ever the diligent corporate citizens, England's Test cricketers have been leading from the front in that regard at least, and will go into the third day against Pakistan with a solid advantage borne of a collective team effort. After a four-way share of the wickets in the first innings, today it was the turn of all the batsmen to chip in for the greater good.
A total of nine scores between 16 and 49 - everyone taking a turn but none for so long that their team-mates would get bored waiting - added up to an overnight lead of 128. It is the sort of position that ought, on the evidence of the series so far, to prove decisive. But it hardly added up to a decisive performance.
Pakistan simply kept chiselling away, their skilful attack finding sufficient magic at irregular intervals to dislodge a series of well-set players. But England were once again complicit in their own downfalls, and it was telling that their outstanding player of the day was their 20-year-old nightwatchman Dom Bess, whose cover-driving evoked Joe Root at his most fluent, but whose spin bowling - his primary suit - has yet to claim a Test wicket, or even bowl an over in this match.
Root himself is becoming something of a past master at the unconverted start, and once again, he inadvertently set the tone for England's innings with a typically attractive but ultimately underwhelming 45. He was the first man to depart as play got underway at 2.45pm after a three-hour rain delay - snicking outside off as Mohammad Amir's left-arm line once again exposed a slight chink in an otherwise enviable technique.
His technical issues, however, were as nothing compared to those that Dawid Malan was experiencing by the end of England's winter in Australia and New Zealand. Like his fellow left-handers, Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings, he appeared to have reached for an off-the-peg remedy, in setting himself up outside of his crease and willing himself on to the front foot at every opportunity.
And just like Cook in particular, the approach appeared to be paying dividends for Malan, not least with the clarity of his cover-driving. He went to tea on 28 from 70 balls, with five fours to his name and the air of a batsman who had found the answer to his struggles. But then, from his first ball of the resumption, he received a snorter from that man Amir, which bounced and left him, taking the shoulder of the bat as it did so, before looping invitingly to slip.
Bess, by contrast, hasn't got a care in the world right now. He'd like, presumably, to pick up that elusive first Test wicket at some point in the near future, but at the age of 20, and with the confidence of youth, he's used his batting to showcase his credentials as a player who is made of The Right Stuff . A second consecutive Test fifty appeared a done deal, especially when he scuffed a Shadab Khan full toss to ease along to 49. But then one ball later, Shadab bit back with his best ball of the match so far - a fizzing top-spinning legbreak that slammed the gloves and nestled in the hands of slip before the batsman really knew what had happened.
Pakistan could - no, should - have taken three wickets for 20 runs in the space of five overs when Buttler, looking to bat with the same controlled belligerence that had briefly raised England's spirits at Lord's, clipped Shadab uppishly into the leg side, and straight through the hands of Hasan Ali at short midwicket. But the moment was lost, and so too seemed the momentum, especially when Jonny Bairstow successfully overturned an lbw appeal on 8, after offering no shot to Faheem Ashraf.
But that wasn't quite the end of the resistance. Faheem got his man in his next over instead, as Bairstow nibbled outside off, having just helped himself to three fours in the space of seven balls. The fact that his dismissal came on the stroke of the 80th over rather added to the soft-headedness of the moment, even though Pakistan then chose to delay the new ball, perhaps to give Amir an extra over or two to gather his strength.
Either way, Mohammad Abbas didn't waste it when he was finally handed it, and produced another pearler in the channel outside off to account for Chris Woakes for 17. It was left to Sam Curran to finish the day with a mini-flourish, two fours from the final three balls brought up England's 300 and underlined their eventual dominance. But it had been a circuitous route to the top.
Day 3
Pakistan 174 & 134
England 363
England won by an innings and 55 runs
It is a pity there is no third Test. This one at Headingley was a mirror image of the match at Lord’s except this time England were the resounding victors as Pakistan were thoroughly outplayed. Thus the series ended at 1-1 after no more than six days’ play and it would be a brave person who could predict what would happen if they met again. No doubt England, after a thumping victory by an innings and 55 runs at Leeds, would be confident of prevailing but so they were before the first Test.
Here everything went better than anticipated for selectors as well as players and punters. There was blistering strokeplay in the morning from Jos Buttler; he reached his half-century with a pull for six off Mohammad Abbas. It is debatable whether that came from the middle of his bat but the one he hit on to the rugby ground/ building site in the middle distance off Faheem Ashraf most certainly did. It was just as well that this was Sunday, when innocent construction workers were putting their feet up at home.
Buttler was left on 80 not out and the rest of us were left wondering why convention had not been defied earlier by parachuting the white-ball king into the Test team. It is still early days in Buttler’s renaissance as a Test player but this is an experiment that must run and run.
So England had a lead of 189 and by lunch Pakistan’s three senior batsmen were back in the pavilion. Then the youngsters, with a bit of help from old Chris Woakes, took centre stage with Dom Bess taking his first three Test wickets and Sam Curran, on his 20th birthday, chipping in. It may never be as gloriously simple for this fresh-faced pair but along with the return of Buttler they have brought zest and charm to a side that was in danger of stagnating. Along the way their naivety will be exposed now and again but there is no doubt that both of them are relishing being Test cricketers.
The Pakistan batsmen were as hapless as England’s at Lord’s as they were bundled out for 134. First Azhar Ali, the senior man unable to show the way in this series, played all around a full‑length delivery from Jimmy Anderson. Then Haris Sohail punched a drive in the air from the middle of his bat to the left of mid-off. Stationed in this vicinity was Bess, who dived, stuck out a large left hand and it was there that the ball magically resided, a superb catch beyond the capacity of most English off-spinners of my experience. This is not the first time that Bess has had onlookers gasping at his capacity to conjure wickets in the field. Then Asad Shafiq was given out on review when feathering a leg-side catch off Stuart Broad so that Pakistan were creaking at 48 for three at lunch.
There were 45 minutes of tranquillity after the break when the pitch had a little doze, and Imam-ul-Haq and Usman Salahuddin were suitably watchful against the old firm. Now Root gave Bess his first bowl of the match. To his first ball Imam skipped down the track and pummelled the ball straight for four; he opted to block the last ball of the over, missed it and was lbw in the modern manner after reviewing unsuccessfully. So the irrepressible Bess had registered his first Test wicket.
Out came Sarfraz Ahmed oozing gung-ho aggression in response to an almost hopeless cause. He, too, cracked his first ball from Bess to the boundary and then crunched drives against the pacemen at the fielders before he was palpably lbw to Woakes, whose return to Test cricket was only marred by having to leave the field with “tightness to his right quad”.
Next Shadab Khan succumbed to Curran, caught at slip by Alastair Cook, a more conventional mode of dismissal than the left‑armer’s first wicket in Test cricket. Now Root could happily fiddle around with his quintet of bowlers amid minimal resistance. The batsmen swung and the fielders unerringly took their catches. Both Faheem Ashraf and Salahuddin holed out against Bess, who ended up with three for 33, and then Stuart Broad returned to mop up the tail to give him match figures of six for 66.
So are we any wiser? For many the conclusion after Lord’s was that Trevor Bayliss as coach was obviously a complete duffer on the verge of losing his job so, after this remarkable resurrection, is he now a minor genius? Of course both these conclusions are way wide of the mark. There must be relief for Root and the rest of the England camp at their first win in nine Tests. The players have atoned for that horrible performance at Lord’s.
The rehabilitation of Buttler is an obvious and intriguing plus and the blooding of the two uncluttered 20‑year‑olds, Bess and Curran, has added sparkle to the team. They have so much to learn but they are hungry to do that. They are not tailor-made solutions and they will not necessarily be regulars from here onwards; the old pros will query Curran’s lack of pace and Bess’s rawness as a bowler on flat pitches but this was hardly the day to dwell upon that.
In the meantime the sharing of 11 wickets by Broad and Anderson has provided their most eloquent argument for staying in the team together. But this is nothing more than a start to the rehabilitation of England’s Test team. There is now a two-month hiatus. Come 1 August and for the next Test the pitch (at Edgbaston) will probably be flatter and the opposition (India) more formidable, but in the intervening period we are at least spared a constant feeling of foreboding.
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