Key events
Ali Martin
Joe Root did not want the England captaincy when the prospect started to be floated earlier this summer. After performing the role as a stand-in for the suspended Ben Stokes against New Zealand at the Oval, his father, Matt, floated a full-time return as a hypothetical and says this was met with a “no”.
Root was apparently swayed by the impending arrival of Stephen Fleming as head coach, with the pair speaking regularly before roles were locked down. But watching this one-sided second day against Pakistan at Lord’s – and indeed the one-sided series opener at Headingley – one wonders whether being handed the keys to this pace attack was another clincher for Root.
This has clearly been a stressful week for Root, with the needless Brydon Carse affair dominating the build-up and serving as an early reminder about the curve balls a Test captain can face. As per his old man, Root spent “four hours” on the phone last Sunday dealing with the fallout when he was meant to be relaxing at a family lunch. He was still thoroughly pissed off about it at his pre-match press conference two days later which, given his usual disposition, said plenty.
All that anger appeared to melt away at Lord’s on Friday, however, when, with 290 first innings runs on the board after some tail-end swish in the morning, Root’s attack set about unstitching Pakistan’s batting lineup once more. Ollie Robinson claimed a remarkable four for 11 from 13 overs, Jofra Archer three for 26 from 11.2. The visitors were bowled out for a sorry-looking 110 to ship a 180-run deficit – with England stretching this to 261 for the loss of three wickets in the final session.
Jofra Archer’s reaction
I think [a lead of 261] is a lot of runs on this wicket. There was a ball with your name on it today.
[On Azan Awais] I’ve never seen someone play and miss so often and not get out. He’s obviously doing something right so fair play to him.
[On the four-man seam attack] I think I bowled 12 overs today, nine in the last game. I can probably play till 40 at this rate!
I don’t think the speedgun is accurate! It didn’t feel like [94.5mph] but I’ll take it.
Another plug for Simon Burnton’s piece on Azan Awais, who was left along on the burning deck when Pakistan batted.
Stumps
The umpires have confirmed that we’re done for the day. And what a day it was for Ollie Robinson, who continued his extraordinary comeback by taking 4 for 11 in 13 overs.
Bad light stops play
That should be it for the day. If so, England will resume tomorrow*/on Sunday with a lead of 261 and a series win almost in the bag.
* The forecast is dreadful so it could be a washout.
22nd over: England 81-3 (Gay 30, Brook 7)
21st over: England 80-3 (Gay 30, Brook 6) Ali moves around the wicket to Gay, who watches an inswinger carefully onto the bat and times it through midwicket for four. Well played.
A rogue outswinger flies away for five wides, which takes England’s lead to 260.
20th over: England 71-3 (Gay 26, Brook 6) Gay ignores some wider deliveries from Abbas before edging a straighter one on the bounce to the keeper. He knows that, if he can survive until the close, batting should get easier – maybe not tomorrow, when the forecast is abysmal, but certainly on Sunday.
Simon Burnton
“It was my first experience playing in England,” said Azan Awais after scoring 98 off 170 for Pakistan Shaheens at Hove last summer, his first red-ball game in England. “The conditions are challenging for an opening batter, requiring patient survival early on.”
Those were certainly the conditions he faced at Lord’s 13 months later and those patient survival skills helped him build an innings much more impressive than a quick summary of his contribution – 46 runs scored before he top-edged a pull to deep square leg – might suggest.
However well the bowlers – Nathan Gilchrist, then of Kent and now of Warwickshire, and Hampshire’s Scott Currie – performed when opening up for the County Select XI last July, if that was a challenging situation that required patient survival, then facing Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson toying with the Lord’s slope was another level entirely.
19th over: England 68-3 (Gay 25, Brook 4) Ali bowls a fine outswinger to Brook, who softens his hands to ensure an edge falls short of third slip. When Ali pulls his length back, Brook times an imperious boundary through point. “What. A. Shot,” purrs Dinesh Karthik in the commentary box.
Batting is seriously difficult now, with the floodlights on and the ball doing all sorts. Another outswinger from Ali beats Brook all ends up and whacks him high on the thigh.
18th over: England 64-3 (Gay 25, Brook 0) Mohammad Abbas is back on for Khurram Shahzad, who bowled a good spell of 8-1-26-2. Gay reaches to drive through extra cover for four, a shot of authority. He’s needed some luck – any batter would on this pitch – but his temperament has been excellent.
The light is fading so I don’t think the players will be on for much longer.
17th over: England 60-3 (Gay 21, Brook 0) A belter of a wicket maiden from Mohammad Ali.
Brook is not out! It was an instant, almost nonchalant review from Brook, which suggested he knew he’d inside-edged the ball onto the pad. And so he had.
England review! Brook given out LBW first ball
WICKET! England 60-3 (Root LBW b Ali 24)
Root is beaten by a vile lifter from Mohammad Ali and breaks into a familiar boyish smile. He’s not smiling when the next ball nips back to trap him plumb in front. Root wastes a review as well, a suggestion that his brain is more scrambled than usual. It was a fine delivery but LBWs are becoming a problem for Root: that’s the ninth in his last 12 Test innings.
16th over: England 60-2 (Gay 21, Root 24) A thick edge from Gay drops short of the slips and scuttles away for another boundary. England are scoring most of their runs in the V – the one at the other end of the pitch.
“What if Frank Hayes hadn’t played all nine of his Test matches against 1970s West Indies, having scored a century on debut?” writes Paul Mills. “He also once took 34 off an over from poor old Malcolm Nash.”
Drinks: England lead by 233 runs
15th over: England 53-2 (Gay 16, Root 23) Root walks down the pitch to flick Ali into the leg side for two. It looks like a typical Root innings, 23 from 32 balls, but he’s hard to fight pretty hard. Gay has 16 from 44.
14th over: England 51-2 (Gay 16, Root 21) Another edge for four, this time when Gay reaches for a full, wide delivery from Khurram. England have had plenty of luck in this mini-session.
Play can continue for another hour and a half, but there’s a bit of rain forecast in around 45 minutes.
13th over: England 47-2 (Gay 12, Root 21) A wide yorker from Ali is squirted for four by Root, who then flashes another boundary past gully. It was at catchable height, a proper edge, but wide of the diving fielder.
England lead by 227.
12th over: England 39-2 (Gay 12, Root 13) Rizwan is not standing up to the stumps when Khurram or Mohammad Ali bowl to Root. That’s hard to fathom because Root has really struggled to deal with that tactic in the past 12 months.
Gay moves into double figures by cutting Khurram crisply for four. His temperament looks excellent and all those plays-and-misses, which are an occupational hazard on a pitch like this, don’t seem to have affected him.
11th over: England 34-2 (Gay 8, Root 12) Root bottom-edges the new bowler Mohammad Ali for three. Gay takes a risk by not running his bat in and is only just home when the throw hits the stumps. Careful now.
“Maybe it’s just me, but this summer I’ve noticed the absolute histrionics when a bowler is appealing for a wicket,” writes Bev. “I get enthusiasm, that’s fine, but lately it seems to be more dramatic than the RSC. What do people think?”
It’s cricket imitating life.
10th over: England 30-2 (Gay 8, Root 9) Eek, Emilio Gay is living dangerously. He’s beaten twice in that Khurram over – one loose shot, one good ball. This, by a distance, has been Khurram’s best spell of the series: 5-1-10-2.
“My what if is Tom Cartwright,” says Kim Thonger. “His nickname was Nail. The cricket writer Colin Bateman stated, ‘Cartwright was an exceptional bowler whose talents could not find a niche in the England side, much to the discredit of the selectors. His high, flowing action off a few steady paces produced unerring accuracy and nip for his rich assortment of seam and swing deliveries, but England looked usually for a first change bowler with extra pace.’ And Tom taught Ian Botham how to swing the ball at the end of his first-class career at Somerset.”
It’s hard to believe that somebody with Cartwright’s first-class record played only five Tests. I’d have to check but I think it was something like 1536 wickets at 19.11 apiece.
9th over: England 29-2 (Gay 8, Root 8) Mohammad Abbas screws his face up in confusion and disgust when Gay is beaten by a beautiful delivery. This Lord’s pitch is not to be trusted, not if you’re a batter.
8th over: England 27-2 (Gay 6, Root 8) Khurram drifts onto the pads of Root, who does the necessary through midwicke for his first boundary. The last couple of overs have been slightly calmer, even if the ball is still doing a bit. England lead by 207.
“Steven Finn would be my what if,” says Dominic Papineau. “Suffered being in a time when England valued control too much over raw wicket potential speed. I think it was Michael Holding lamenting Finn’s underuse when his stats were quoted with something like ‘all because they were worried about four an over’.”
The great sadness with Finn is that he fought back from being unselectable (sic) to bowl majestically against Australia and South Africa in 2015. He was still only 26 at that point, but injuries and self-doubt returned and eventually broke him.
With the obvious exception of Ben Hollioake, Finn might be my most poignant what if. My eyes were not entirely without moisture when I read the section in his book (which is superb) about the catharsis of his Ashes comeback at Edgbaston.
7th over: England 23-2 (Gay 6, Root 4) Gay releases a bit of the pressure with a pristine cover drive for four. He’s a good advert for weighted averages, because most of his Test appearances so far have been in extremely tough batting conditions.
6th over: England 18-2 (Gay 2, Root 3) Gay fences Khurram just short of the slips, who again look a bit too deep. He’s hanging in there, waiting for the new ball to lose its zing, but it’s seriously hard work. Khurram straightens a beauty past the edge later in the over.
“WinViz has England at 75%?!?” writes Michael Meagher. “That can’t be right!”
I blame Perth.
5th over: England 18-2 (Gay 2, Root 3) Root has to scramble to make his ground after being sent back by Gay. On that occasion it was the right call, but Gay’s running and calling in this short innings have been jittery.
Root is not out! Outside the line, next. Babar was reluctant to review and probably only did it because it was Root.
Pakistan review for LBW against Root! I think he’s outside the line, but it’s close: the keeper is up to the stumps so Root is stuck in his crease.
Yorkshire have escaped without charges from the Cricket Regulator after a formal investigation into a £1.75m payment the county made to a company controlled by the club’s chief executive, Sanjay Patel, for work on the sale of the Northern Superchargers Hundred franchise.
The Guardian revealed in June that the England and Wales Cricket Board was reviewing the consultancy fee, which related to the £100m sale of the Superchargers to the Sun Group last year, with the matter subsequently referred to the Cricket Regulator for a formal investigation.
Yorkshire’s 2025 accounts showed Patel’s company SMP73 Ltd received a commission of £1.75m for “corporate broker services in connection with the sale of Northern Superchargers Limited”, leading to concerns at Lord’s over the amount of money leaving the game and a possible conflict of interest.
Colin Graves, the Yorkshire chair, announced that the case had been dropped without charges being issued at a members forum at Scarborough on Thursday, which he confirmed in an email sent to supporters on Friday.
4th over: England 16-2 (Gay 2, Root 1) Cox’s wicket was the 21st to fall in only 108 overs of play. Out there I just don’t know what’s going off.
WICKET! England 13-2 (Cox LBW b Khurram 11)
My kingdom for a decent hunch – it was comfortably out, hitting below the bails. Khurram Shahzad got one to nip back and hit the flap of the front pad as Cox tried in vain to bring down the curtain rail. He was a fair way back so the ball didn’t have too far to travel.
Pakistan review for LBW against Cox! Height is the issue; my hunch is umpire’s call and therefore not out.
3rd over: England 11-1 (Gay 0, Cox 11) Jordan Cox stands tall to punch England’s first boundary through point. That’s a lovely shot, really classy and controlled. So is Mohammad Abbas’s response, a seductive outswinger that beats the edge. And so is Cox’s response to the response, another measured square drive to the fence.
Strong Margate, strong England.
2nd over: England 4-1 (Gay 0, Cox 2) Khurram appeals for something and everything when Gay is hit on the thigh by an inswinger. Too high for LBW and there was no touch on the bat.
“What ifs,” begins Phil Harrison. “Simon Jones is obviously The One (could have been England’s Dale Steyn) but in Test terms, my other one is Jos Buttler. Sure, he did ok. And he’s still having a resplendent white-ball career. But I genuinely thought he might be England’s answer to Adam Gilchrist when he first emerged. A fresh-faced and cheerful destroyer, in all formats. I think he got in his own head a bit in Tests and I really wish he’d made it to the Stokes/McCullum era. They might have sorted him out.”
He definitely got in his own head too much; his interviews on the subject are fascinating.
WICKET! England 1-1 (Duckett c Babar b Khurram 1)
Urgh, what a horrible dismissal. Duckett clouts a length ball from Khurram Shahzad straight to mid-off, where Babar Azam takes a simple catch.
1st over: England 1-0 (Duckett 1, Gay 0) An accurate first over from Mohammad Abbas. Duckett plays tip and run to get off the mark; Gay tries to do likewise but it’s a bit tighter and Duckett sends him back.
The sun is out and the players are back on the field. Emilio Gay could do with a few runs after a tough spell; his last five Test innings have yielded 62 runs.
Andy Flintoff has emailed the correct answer, which is kind of appropriate.
Was it Grievous Bodily Harmison’s 7-12 against the West Indies in 2004?
It sure was: 12.3-8-12-7.
David Hopkins also got it, but he doesn’t share a name with Harmy’s best mate.
Tea
I forgot to say that the umpires have brought tea forward due to the change of innings. That means we’ll have an evening session of just under three hours.
“Derek Underwood?” suggests Peter in response to the question a couple of entries ago. Underwood did manage it against New Zealand in 1971 (11.6-7-12-6 in the days of eight-ball overs), but there have been a few examples since then.
It happened five times in 1978 (Phil Edmonds x 3, Chris Old and Bob Willis). Since then there have been three instances: Ollie Robinson today, Lord Beefy’s rampage at Edgbaston in 1981… and another famous rampage by an England fast bowler.
“My ‘what if’ is Ben Foakes,” says Max Willians. “There’s a world not different to this one where he has 100 caps and series wins against India and Australia. Also Haseeb Hameed. But still optimistic he comes again.”
Ah yes, Hameed is a really good one. In my time preparing to be murdered by Claude, I’ve seen only four England cricketers who I was 100.00% certain would make it: Stuart Broad, Joe Root, Haseeb Hameed and Jacob Bethell.
Pop quiz, hotshot Right, shut up, stop talking to Claude and answer this niche question. Ollie Robinson finished with outrageous figures of 13-6-11-4.
Before today, who was the last England bowler to take at least four wickets in a Test innings while conceding less than one run per over?
WICKET! Pakistan 110 all out (Abbas b Archer 2)
Jofra Archer cleans up Mohammad Abbas to complete a marvellous bowling performance. They lead by 180 runs and are apparently cruising towards a series victory.
Archer ends with figures of 11.2-1-26-3, and they don’t flatter him. Pretty soon he is going to bulldoze a team.
37th over: Pakistan 110-8 (Abbas 1, Ali 3) “‘Right, where were we?’” begins John Burton, quoting Claude’s earlier OBO. “I can’t be the only one who instantly heard that in a John Arlott burr, can I?”
Oh yes, good one. I can also hear Johnners saying it. (Brian, not Emma.)
36th over: Pakistan 109-8 (Abbas 1, Ali 3) Ali is dropped by Root at leg slip, a tough chance as he flew to his right. Jofra Archer’s frustration continues when Ali survives an LBW review after playing around a beautiful inswinger. It was not out on the field and umpire’s call on impact.
35th over: Pakistan 107-8 (Abbas 1, Ali 1) Imam-ul-Haq will not bat because of his calf injury, so Mohammad Abbas and Muhammad Ali are Pakistan’s last pair. Robinson would love another five-for to continue his fairytale return; he almost gets it when Abbas inside-edges just past the stumps.
Since his recall, Robinson has taken 19 wickets at 8.78 apiece. Conditions have been favourable, sure, but that’s über-Lohmann stuff. Or maybe it should be unter-Lohmann.
WICKET! Pakistan 106-8 (Azan c Gay b Robinson 46)
Ollie Robinson has bounced out Azan Awais! With only the rabbits for company, Awais decided to take on the short ball and hopefully bring up his fifty in the process. Instead he clothed it towards deep square and was comfortably caught by Emilio Gay.
WICKET! Pakistan 105-7 (Khurram c Brook b Robinson 1)
Ollie Robinson hoovers up another wicket. Khurram fences at a good delivery and is smartly taken in the slips by Harry Brook. Robinson has 3 for 8 in 11.2 overs, and England’s 2025-26 Ashes campaign is getting worse by the minute.
34th over: Pakistan 105-6 (Azan 46, Khurram 1) Khurram Shahzad faces his first ball from somewhere near square leg and is hit on the pad. “Where’s he going?!” chuckles Mark Wood on commentary.
When Khurram takes a single, Archer beats Azan twice in a row. Apparently Azan has played and missed at Archer 14 times today.
“Hi Rob,” writes Tom Paternoster-Howe, “old Claude hasn’t quite got it right. There’s no mention of the Judge, nor reference to an obscure, but delightful, old scorecard.
“For the rest, though, the tone is pretty much spot-on. That must be a bit of a frightening harbinger of obsolescence, not unlike walking in a graveyard and seeing a headstone with your name on it. All the best with your inevitable existential crisis.”
Don’t worry, a teatime Twix will see me right.
WICKET! Pakistan 104-6 (Usman b Archer 1)
And it’s goodnight from Ali Usman. He played a nothing shot at a shortish delivery at Archer and dragged the ball back onto the stumps.
33rd over: Pakistan 104-5 (Azan 46, Usman 1) Robinson beats Usman with successive deliveries, the first a bona fide jaffa. Usman walks down the track in response, so Smith moves back up to the stumps – and the next ball swings past him for four byes. Robinson’s figures are exceptional (11-6-8-2) but at least 12 byes have been conceded on his watch. Look, it’s complicated.
“Feels like Ollie Robinson slots next to Ben Foakes as players who should’ve had 50+ caps already,” says Max Williams. “Hopefully he bowls us to the Ashes next summer. Who are your biggest What If players for England?”
Blimey, at least buy me dinner tell me yours first. There are so many, from Mark Ramprakash (52 caps) to Duncan Spencer (0). I suspect the biggest for many people would be Simon Jones. But if we’re talking purely about selection, I’d probably say Ramps. Claude reckons the biggest ‘what if’ is Dermot Munton.
32nd over: Pakistan 99-5 (Azan 46, Usman 1) Joe Root’s infectious, mischievous smile is on display when he sees a replay of Ollie Robinson slipping in the field. His joie de vivre has somehow survived 14 years in international cricket.
“I noticed the anonymous OBO emailer in over 18 was cautious about getting into trouble at work for reading the OBO during working hours,” writes John Starbuck. “Although I’m now retired, one of my roles in a large public sector outfit was monitoring staff IT misdeeds, but I’d not shop anyone for following the OBO because what else can you do?”
Can I ask Claude and get back to you?
31st over: Pakistan 95-5 (Azan 43, Usman 0) Still no sign of Imam-ul-Haq, who has a calf problem, so Ali Usman comes in at No7. His first ball seams and lifts violently to beat the edge, hit Smith on the thumb and fly away for four byes. Smith walks away in pain, then walks back to a traditional wicketkeeping position. No need to be up to the stumps for Usman, who is a decent No9 but no more.
Robinson’s bowling figures have been nicked from Curtly Ambrose: 10-5-8-2. And his career bowling average has dropped to 20.50: the best of any England bowler with 50 Test wickets since Frank Tyson in the 1950s.
“I think your job’s safe enough…” writes Barney. “Quite a few things wrong with that paragraph from Claude. England are batting, but Archer is bowling. It’s apparently a Test match, but we’re calculating the run rate – when the seven wickets down looks like more of an issue. If it is a one day game, then England have three overs to score 114. I’m not sure why anyone would be worrying about tea. Keep up the human work.”
You’re right, of course you are. But my mind’s ear has been hijacked by a single phrase: my kingdom for a Twix!
WICKET! Pakistan 91-5 (Rizwan LBW b Robinson 7)
Ollie Robinson’s done it again! There was no inside edge and the ball wouild have hit the top of the stumps, so Rizwan is on his way and Joe Root has struck gold with two risky reviews in the last half an hour.
England review for LBW against Rizwan! Hmm, not sure about this. It was a beautiful nipbacker there might be an inside edge and height could be an issue.