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.
There is a danger of getting carried away here, of course, with Pakistan a struggling Test side and a calf injury suffered by Imam-ul-Haq on day one leaving just nine wickets to claim. The only real positive on the green side of the ledger was the 21-year-old opener Azan Awais holding firm for just shy of three hours while his colleagues folded inside 38 overs. The left-hander eventually holed out off Robinson for 46 once a diplodocus tail had begun but showed guts against Archer’s pace.
And yet for all that at times it was a bit fish-in-barrel stuff – ideal bowling conditions thanks to cloud cover and a pitch that, while slow, offered nip – it feels reasonable to say that better teams may well have struggled also. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad may have retired – their new portrait now greets dismissed batters on their way back into the pavilion – but a potent attack is forming.
Plenty went back to the 14.1 overs that England sent down before lunch. With Root marshalling things from his new position at mid-off (or occasionally joining the catchers) it was a straightjacket of line bowling by Robinson from the Nursery End, allied with the heat of Archer from the other. And crucially, there was next to no let up when Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue eventually slid in to replace them.
Tongue’s removal of Abdullah Shafique brought about the interval and Pakistan, 16 for two after an hour-long ordeal, had gone the square root of nowhere. Archer had earlier nicked off the footwork-devoid Shan Masood and repeatedly breached the 90mph mark, while Jamie Smith continued his promising summer with the gloves, be it stood up to Robinson or back for the quicker men.
Buoyed by a career-best unbeaten 30 in the morning, Tongue resumed things in the afternoon and made light work of Babar Azam when an ambitious drive flew into the cordon on eight. And though Tongue leaked a few runs thereafter trying to entice more repeats, Root was simply able to whistle for the refreshed Robinson to shut things down with another burst of 76mph wobblers.
Having conceded just seven runs from his initial six-over new ball spell, Robinson’s next set of seven cost a mere four and sent as many batters back to the pavilion. Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan were both caged in by Smith’s proximity behind the stumps and trapped lbw via smart reviews from Root. And two balls before Awais fell in search of his half-century, Khurram Shahzad poked to slip.
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Interspersed was the sight of Archer castling Ali Usman and Mohammad Abbas, with Atkinson the one bowler left wicketless. This may in part be down to a change of role this summer, with Atkinson having been elbowed out of new ball duties. Still, his 45 from No 8 and the early stand of 47 alongside Tongue meant the quietest member of Root’s quartet still had something to be chipper about.
The value of those runs increased early on in England’s second innings when Ben Duckett chipped Shahzad to mid-off for one and Jordan Cox, lbw for eight, handed Shahzad a second wicket. But alongside Emilio Gay (30 not out), Root settled things down and England are closing in on a first series win for 18 months.
Beyond the annoyance of Carse, Root’s chief issue is a growing pattern of his falling over the ball and being pinned lbw. It happened again on 26 inside the final hour of the day, with Mohammad Ali the man to strike. But with the lead already looking plenty for his attack to work with, it was anything but a knockout blow.