For all that Joe Root was playing his 167th Test match for England, and had led the side on 65 previous occasions, there can only have been a few butterflies as he pulled on the blazer and walked out for the toss on his home ground.
Root was resuming what he once described as an “unhealthy relationship” with the captaincy, while a supposedly one-off return to the job earlier this summer ended in a crushing defeat to New Zealand. Aged 35, England’s premier batter could easily have said a polite “no thank you” when the vacancy came around again.
And yet Root appears to be driven by something more than just duty; a sense of unfinished personal business, perhaps. And if there were any nerves or second thoughts, they surely evaporated once Ollie Robinson struck with the first ball of series to set in motion a dominant opening day against Pakistan.
By stumps the match had progressed significantly. Robinson went on to claim his fifth five-wicket haul in Test cricket with a masterful display of wobble seam, while Josh Tongue picked up his fourth to share all 10. And in response to Pakistan’s 171 all out in 48.1 overs, England closed on 112 for two from 25 with Root 37 not out and the new No 3 Jordan Cox 23 not out.
Plenty went Root’s way, it must be said, not least the coin toss. The last seven Test matches here have been won by the side bowling first and, while not as quick as those witnessed in recent years, the pitch was offering sideways movement for any seamer who could lock in on the Headingley length.
Doing so is Robinson’s forte, of course. And after trapping Azan Awais lbw from around the wicket with his opening delivery – the first time a Test series in England has started with a wicket – Root’s metronome rarely missed a beat. As a result, the apparent rustiness of Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson was barely felt.
One of Robinson’s victims here was a touch unfortunate, with Saud Shakeel too late in reviewing an lbw shown to be going over the stumps. But figures of five for 51 from 18 overs were no less deserved, while an afternoon spell of eight overs, two for 17, was also a positive as regards his fitness and old ball prowess.
That Pakistan did not fold entirely owed plenty to Abdullah Shafique, who emerged at six for two in the fifth over – Shan Masood the man plumb lbw to Robinson – and top-scored with 61. But for all that he looked assured, Shafique was eventually made claustrophobic by Jamie Smith’s presence up at the stumps – a notable move by Root – and then powerless as Robinson jagged one through the gate.
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Imam-ul-Haq, one of four Pakistan players to have played for Yorkshire, was probably the batter left with the greatest sense of regret on the day. The left-handed opener had been so diligent during an initial rebuild alongside Shafique that straddled an early lunch triggered by rain and added 91 runs for the third wicket.
But after struggling with an ankle issue that required treatment on the field, Imam drove loosely to slip on 42 to hand Tongue his first wicket. Unlike Archer and Atkinson, Tongue did not look like a bowler coming off a diet of 20 balls per match in The Hundred but rather the Test thoroughbred he is fast becoming.
So much comes down to Tongue’s natural angle that, allied with nip in either direction, can turn defence into a lottery. Here he snuffed out any chance of a fightback from the lower middle order, his figures of five for 46 seeing both the stand-in skipper Salman Ali Agha and the wicket-keeer Mohammad Rizwan pinned lbw.