Off the field, there have been midnight misadventures and political wranglings, but in a cricketing sense, at least, all is rosy for Joe Root’s England. For the first time since the end of 2024, they are Test series victors, and there have been few more comprehensive successes than these back-to-back blitzings of Pakistan. After three days at Headingley, this Lord’s Test at least lasted four, though only thanks to interrupting rain that has arguably proved more troublesome opposition than the tourists.
One must reserve judgement on this new era given the relative paucity of Pakistan, but Root will have been encouraged by the signs his side showed. A potent pack of pacemen proved too hot for most to handle, while there was a measured maturity to how England went about their work with bat and ball to make the most of the surface. In Ollie Robinson, they now have a frontman averaging under 20 in Test cricket; in Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue, a backing band that can lift the volume and tempo with the best of them.
