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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
30th over: Pakistan 91-4 (Azan 43, Rizwan 7) Archer looks hacked off – enough now, Robert – when Rizwan inside-edges a big drive past leg stump for four. That could easily have dismantled some furniture.
29th over: Pakistan 86-4 (Azan 43, Rizwan 2) Robinson resumes after the rain break. His first five balls are immaculate, but the sixth swings down the leg side for four byes. That’s a risk you take when the keeper comes up to the stumps for a seam bowler.
Play will resume at 3.30pm
Tea has been pushed back to 4.40pm, and the evening session can go on until tomorrow morning. (Okay, 7.30pm.)
I’m still reeling from Claude’s take on the OBO. In a regrettable display of narcissism, I asked the big guy to write the same entry but in the style of Rob Smyth. I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or be thoroughly hacked off.
47th over: England 198-4 (target 312)
Archer to bowl. There’s a lovely symmetry here — last time I watched an England run chase this nervy I was in a pub in 2019 lying to myself about how relaxed I was. Beats the bat first ball. Huge shout. Not out, and the umpire looks about as convinced as I am by my own fitness regime.
Two through midwicket, then a boundary that gets the crowd up — “GET IN” says an email from Dave in Leeds, which feels premature but I admire the commitment.
Tea in twenty minutes. My kingdom for a Twix.
My kingdom for an effing Twix?!
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“As a Margate boy,” begins John Stedman. “I cannot but bask in the reflected glory of two lads from the Thanet Riviera appearing in a Test at Lord’s.”
For those of you who don’t live near Madonna’s idea of heaven, John is referring to Ollie Robinson and Jordan Cox. Their teammate Ben Duckett was also born in Kent. But we can’t really say ‘strong Kent, strong England’, given they all play for different counties.
The cats and frogs have gone elsewhere and the groundstaff are flexing their muscles. If there’s no more rain I’d imagine the players will be back on in around 20 minutes.
Musical interlude
I heard this for the first time today, and now nothing can ever be the same.
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Given the earlier chat about the nature of the OBO, I asked big Claude to “write 100 words in the style of the Guardian’s over-by-over cricket coverage”. The results are… actually, I don’t want to talk about it. The matter is with my AI lawyer.
Here’s a cricket over-by-over piece in that distinctive Guardian style — chatty, tangential, self-aware:
47th over: England 198-4 (target 312)
Right, where were we. Ah yes, a game of cricket, apparently. Archer starts round the wicket, beats the bat first ball with one that seams away — huge appeal, given not out, and the crowd does that groan-cheer hybrid noise that only exists at Test matches. Second ball is clipped through midwicket for two, the kind of shot that looks lazy until you remember it takes twenty years to make anything look that easy. A single, a dot, then a booming four down the ground and suddenly everyone’s recalculating the run rate on beer mats. Tea can’t come soon enough.
Thanks to Tim for another majestic stint (and for my entire career, but that’s another story). It’s been raining cats and frogs at Lord’s so we won’t have any cricket for half an hour or so.
RAIN STOPS PLAY!
28th over: Pakistan 81-4 (Azan Awais 43, Mohammad Rizwan 1) This over is a wonderful contest. In one corner: a doughty left-hander who has been in for hours. In the other: a fast bowler who eats left-handers for breakfast.
Archer beats Awais with a lifter, then with a length ball. Stuart Broad, in the commentary box, thinks he hears Archer say “Will you just nick it?” Awais declines to oblige, instead playing a well-timed push through the covers for four. Then Archer produces a brute of a ball and reckons Awais has got that crucial nick. The finger goes up, but Awais reviews and gets a reprieve! Test cricket at its best.
While all this is happening, the skies have been darkening. By the time the review is done, it’s raining quite hard.
And that’s my shift done, so it’s time for the great Rob Smyth. Thanks for your company, correspondence and forthright views on OBO jokes.
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26th over: Pakistan 75-4 (Azan Awais 37, Mohammad Rizwan 1) After that expensive over from Atkinson, Root summons Jofra Archer, whose first spell was apparently the fastest of his Test career. Mohammad Rizwan, understandably, takes a single. Archer has an appeal for LBW against Azan Awais and he’s so sure that he goes in for the celebappeal, in the Stuart Broad tradition. But Root won’t review and he’s proved right as the replay shows the ball doing too much.
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25th over: Pakistan 74-4 (Azan Awais 37, Mohammad Rizwan 0) No such liberties to be taken with Ollie Robinson, who bowls a maiden to Awais and finishes by beating him with a jaffa. The wicket of Shakeel was Robinson’s first of the match but his 16th for England this summer: 16 for 163 at an average of – well, you’ve already worked it out.
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24th over: Pakistan 74-4 (Azan Awais 37, Mohammad Rizwan 0) After doing the trick by taking Tongue off, Root elects to keep Atkinson on. Awais says thank you very much, hitting a cover drive for four, a miscued drive for four more, and a push down the ground for three. The last ten overs have brought 58 runs, but that won’t bother Root as there have also been three wickets.
“Afternoon Tim,” says Brian Withington. “Take away the ill-judged attempt at an OBO joke and I don’t know what I’d have left in life. Say it will never be so!”
That is a very well-judged attempt at an OBO joke.
23rd over: Pakistan 63-4 (Azan Awais 26, Mohammad Rizwan 0) That was a great shame for Shakeel, who had shown intent and flair in racing to 16 off 16 balls. At 63-4, with one batter on the treatment table, Pakistan may be crumpling again, but the feisty Rizwan could remind the dogged Awais that England were in much the same boat at 77-4.
WICKET! Saud Shakeel LBW b Robinson 16 (Pakistan 63-4)
A bowling change does the trick! Back comes Ollie Robinson, who doesn’t need a loosener. His first ball is curling in at Shakeel, who plays outside it. The ump shakes his head, deciding that it was too high, but Root reviews and HawkEye has it hitting the leg bail.
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22nd over: Pakistan 63-3 (Azan Awais 26, Saud Shakeel 16) The flurry of fours continues as Awais cashes in, twice, on a bit of width from Atkinson. Time for a change, surely. If Rehan Ahmed was playing, he might be coming on now.
21st over: Pakistan 55-3 (Azan Awais 18, Saud Shakeel 16) Joe Root keeps Tongue on for a sixth successive over, perhaps feeling that he had enough of a breather at lunchtime. But it doesn’t go well as Tongue’s full length allows Shakeel to help himself to three fours – a slightly streaky square drive, a resounding cover drive, and a comfy leg glance. Tongue’s figures have gone from 4-2-5-2 to 6-2-27-2.
20th over: Pakistan 43-3 (Azan Awais 18, Saud Shakeel 4) As Atkinson continues, Awais plays another measured stroke, a nudge past gully for two – and then, out of nowhere, a loose drive that could easily cost him his wicket. No point gutsing it out for 20 overs if you then give it away.
Meanwhile, Tom van der Gucht has a thought about Atkinson’s batting. “If he can average 30, it might encourage the selectors to be a bit more bold and pick Rehan Ahmed at 6 instead of Lawrence, bringing an extra dimension to our bowling options.” That would be a more balanced side, although, on a surface like this, England may well get away with an unbalanced one.
19th over: Pakistan 41-3 (Azan Awais 16, Saud Shakeel 4) A mixed bag this time from Tongue, who produces a swinging yorker, well kept out by Awais; a half-volley, smacked for four by Shakeel; and a long hop so wild that it goes for five wides as Jamie Smith can’t get near it with his dive. Tongue’s figures are no longer superhuman, but still very good: 5-2-15-2.
18th over: Pakistan 31-3 (Azan Awais 15, Saud Shakeel 0) Atkinson keeps the pressure on and touches 89mph on the speedometer.
“Enjoying the OBO as always,” says the next email, “even if work has been so busy this morning I wasn’t able to keep up to date. Massively disagree with Ollie Major [13:32], I thought your comment on Joe Root’s huddle chat was brilliant and pretty typical OBO fare!
”I would consider suggesting ‘ill judged attempts at a joke by OBO’ as a topic for the afternoon session but probably not wise. And if you do post this, anonymous please so I don’t get in trouble at work! Thanks to you and all the team as always.”
Thanks to you too, my nameless friend. But Ollie was entitled to his opinion!
17th over: Pakistan 30-3 (Azan Awais 14, Saud Shakeel 0) Tongue’s figures are now 4-2-5-2. And he made a wayward start!
WICKET! Babar Azam c Cox b Tongue 8 (Pakistan 30-3)
Tongue is in the groove! He hits the ideal length and finds the edge of Babar’s bat, but the ball doesn’t carry. Undaunted, Tongue then draws a thicker edge that is safely pouched by Jordan Cox at third slip.
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16th over: Pakistan 29-2 (Azan Awais 13, Babar Azam 8) Azan Awais quietly survived that testing hour before lunch – very quietly, inching to 8 off 44 balls. Now he goes up a gear right away, steering Atkinson’s first ball of the afternoon for four past gully. Awais adds a single and Babar plays another of his classic cover drives, which makes this, from a Pakistan point of view, much the best over of the innings.
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15th over: Pakistan 20-2 (Azan Awais 8, Babar Azam 4) Josh Tongue has five balls left in this over, and Babar Azam has a bat in his hand for the first time in the series. Babar, who has never made a Test hundred in England, may feel that this would be the perfect time to rectify that. After taking a few sighters, he gets off the mark with a shot of great class, a rasping cover drive. Next ball, Tongue gets past his outside edge, so we could be in for another riveting duel.
An overdue glance at the inbox. Ollie Major is taking issue with my line from 12:07, suggesting that Joe Root might be saying “Don’t hack me off, lads.”
“I am a big fan of the OBO,” Ollie says, “but I thought this was an ill judged attempt at a joke - you’re usually better than this!
“Team culture is a desperate critical Ashes losing issue and I’m not sure making light of it is really the way to go? There has definitely been a bit an issue with the press and the ex-player cohort being out of touch with the wider mood in this situation, and I think we need to back Root in efforts to get to grips with it.
“Just because Root has a mild way of speaking ( I suspect ‘hacked off’ covers for absolutely spitting feathers) shouldn’t make it a source of humour.”
Almost anything can be a source of humour, can’t it? I wasn’t remotely meaning that team culture doesn’t matter, or that Root was wrong to say he was hacked off. On the contrary, it was the right move at the right time, and as you say his mild manner gives it extra force.
My remark was a throwaway one in the OBO tradition of trying to have some fun with a subject that is, after all, only a game. And I’m surprised to hear you say that the press and the pundits have been out of touch with the public on this. There’s been plenty of shade thrown at the shenanigans in the papers I read, as well as from Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson yesterday.
LUNCH! Pakistan 16-2, England on top
So the players troop off and it’s England who will be much the happier camp as they head for the buffet. It’s been a tale of four seamers. Tongue and Atkinson added 42 very handy runs before Archer and Robinson made an immaculate start with the ball. And not content with making his highest Test score, Tongue now has yet another wicket. Pakistan, who have lost two batters to good bowling and maybe a third to injury, simply have to win the afternoon.
WICKET! Shafique c Smith b Tongue 8 (Pakistan 16-2)
Another one! There’s a hold-up as this full delivery yields an edge that could be a bump ball, but the third umpire confirms it and Shafique has to go.
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14th over: Pakistan 16-1 (Azan Awais 8, Abdullah Shafique 5) Atkinson continues and Awais is dropped! By Harry Brook at second slip. It went low to his right – a tough chance but one Brook would take more often than not.
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13th over: Pakistan 16-1 (Azan Awais 8, Abdullah Shafique 5) Another maiden from Tongue, and he’s warming to the task, beating Shafique twice outside off.
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12th over: Pakistan 16-1 (Azan Awais 8, Abdullah Shafique 5) Another change as Root resists the temptation to over-bowl Archer and sends for Gus Atkinson. Not as quick but just as tall, he soon reckons he’s got Awais caught behind off the shoulder of the bat. But Awais reviews and he’s right – the replay shows the ball coming off the shoulder of the man. There’s then a single to each batter, something Pakistan could do with more of.
Lunch, by the way, is at 1.15pm. We’re having an extra half-hour in the day to catch up on some of the overs lost to rain yesterday.
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11th over: Pakistan 14-1 (Azan Awais 7, Abdullah Shafique 4) Joe Root makes his first bowling change, taking Robinson off and bringing on Josh Tongue. His batting lit up Lord’s this morning but now that he’s an all-rounder, his bowling is tailing off. He goes too wide of Shafique’s off stump and is lucky to get away with a maiden.
An email came in earlier from Rob Smyth, who will be with you later. “Nice stat on TMS from Andy Zaltzman,” he said. “The last time England had four bowlers with 50+ Test wickets at an average below 29 was December 1981 in Delhi: Botham, Willis, Lever and Underwood. They didn’t say when they last had four seamers, though I suppose some people would classify Underwood as LM.” Ha.
“I assume Flintoff was the reason they didn’t do this in 2005 as his average took an age to come down.”
Rob’s memory for these things is usually spot-on, but when that great series began, only Steve Harmison had an average under 29 (27.95, in fact). Matthew Hoggard was on 29.63, Simon Jones 31.41 and Flintoff 33.32. If the Aussies looked at those averages, they would have had no idea what was about to hit them.
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10th over: Pakistan 14-1 (Azan Awais 7, Abdullah Shafique 4) Archer, still steaming in and touching 93mph, is still asking all the right questions, but Awais again manages to keep him out. Archer has 5-1-8-1, Robinson 5-2-6-0.
9th over: Pakistan 14-1 (Azan Awais 7, Abdullah Shafique 4) Robinson keeps Shafique quiet with his old-school line and length. “He’s doing a good job,” Broad says. “He could easily get carried away with what Jofra’s doing at the other end, but he’s just doing his own thing.”
8th over: Pakistan 14-1 (Azan Awais 7, Abdullah Shafique 4) Archer is on fire! Bowling to Awais, he goes up from 92mph to 94 with another snorter, then produces a super-snorter which has Awais jumping like a frog, Jamie Smith taking the ball well above his head, and Joe Root bursting out laughing. Awais, to his great credit, square-drives the next ball for four, but Archer retorts by beating the outside the edge. A great little duel for the crowd to enjoy.
7th over: Pakistan 10-1 (Azan Awais 3, Abdullah Shafique 4) Robinson isn’t fast, of course, but that makes him and Archer a potent pair: it’s as if the batters are taking two different exams at the same time. Bowling to the right-handed Shafique, with Jamie Smith standing up to the stumps, Robinson beats the bat with some late movement.
6th over: Pakistan 10-1 (Azan Awais 3, Abdullah Shafique 4) Archer is looking as good as he did at Lord’s in 2019. This over is fast and accurate and the batters do well just to get through it.
5th over: Pakistan 9-1 (Azan Awais 3, Abdullah Shafique 3) Better from the batters as they get busy, make use of the many gaps and pick up three singles off Robinson.
4th over: Pakistan 6-1 (Azan Awais 1, Abdullah Shafique 1) So Pakistan are in trouble already – and Archer could have two in two as he greets Shafique with a snorter. Shafique manages to fend it off, but it would have been a simple catch for the short leg England had (for Robinson) at the start of the innings. And it could even have brought a run-out as Azan Awais called Shafique for a single, which he was too dazed to take at more than an amble.
WICKET! Shan Masood c Smith b Archer 1 (Pakistan 5-1)
Here we go! Jofra Archer produces a gorgeous delivery that swings away late to take the edge, and that is the end of Masood’s shift as a makeshift opener.
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3rd over: Pakistan 4-0 (Shan Masood 1, Azan Awais 1) The first run off the bat comes as Masood tucks Robinson for a single. Bowling to Azan Awais for the first time, Robinson goes round the wicket and instantly has an appeal for LBW – the very way he dismissed Awais with the first ball of the series. Chris Gaffney shakes his head, clearly deciding the ball struck the pad outside the line of off stump. Joe Root reviews, rashly, as Gaffney is soon proved right. Root, the most experienced captain in England’s history, is perplexingly bad at reviews.
2nd over: Pakistan 2-0 (Shan Masood 0, Azan Awais 0) Jofra Archer, bowling to Azan Awais, duplicates Robinson’s start – all dots apart from a no-ball. The difference is that Archer, with his extra pace, finds some bounce. Maybe the pitch isn’t quite as slow as the Pakistan bowlers made it look.
1st over: Pakistan 1-0 (Shan Masood 0, Azan Awais 0) The new ball is in the hands of Ollie Robinson, who was so lethal here against New Zealand in June. He starts by going round the wicket to the left-handed Masood, with a short leg. But only for two balls as that plan is mysteriously shelved, Robinson goes over the wicket and short leg disappears. Either way, the deliveries end up as dots – until Robinson bowls a no-ball. His seventh ball is a good one, curling back into Masood, who survives by getting an inside edge into the pad.
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Joe Root gathers his troops in a huddle. What’s he saying, I wonder. “Don’t hack me off, lads”?
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As the England bowlers limber up in front of the pavilion, Pakistan have an injury to deal with. Imam-ul-Haq is having treatment for a calf strain, so Shan Masood will move up to open (which he’s well used to). Here’s hoping Imam is able to play some part down the order.
So, on what Stuart Broad saw as a 250 pitch, England have 290. After subsiding to 77-4, they could easily have been 180 all out, but Jordan Cox made a gritty 55, Jamie Smith returned to form with a fluent 61, Gus Atkinson made a Bazballish 45 and Josh Tongue, not content with his first 20 for England, motored on to the dizzy heights of 30. The upshot is that Pakistan, who need a first-innings lead, will have to work hard to avoid a deficit.
WICKET! Atkinson c Mohammad Ali b Ali Usman 45 (England 290 all out)
Here is plan B and it works right away. Ali Usman comes on with his flighted left-arm spin and Atkinson, after helping himself to a lofted drive for four, falls to a top edge.
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66th over: England 285-9 (Atkinson 41, Tongue 29) As Abbas continues, Tongue goes back to his trusty outside edge and reaches another milestone: 100 runs in Tests. He’s now so confident that he hits a four in front of the wicket – a cover drive, not quite classical but definitely middled.
For Pakistan, plan A hasn’t worked (though it easily could have, with those early edges). Does Babar Azam have a plan B?
Josh Tongue makes his first 20!
65th over: England 278-9 (Atkinson 40, Tongue 23) Tongue, facing Mohammad Ali, has a near-miss as the nip-backer almost takes out his stumps, but the next ball is a freebie on his pads and he clips it for a single. That takes him to 20 for the first time in his three years as a Test cricketer. He celebrates not with a wave of the bat, but with a chip for three to midwicket. His average has now soared to 6.60.
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64th over: England 272-9 (Atkinson 39, Tongue 19) Abbas, bowling to Atkinson, tries a bouncer too, followed by a yorker. Atkinson misses with a pull but manages to jab down on the next ball as it homes in on his big toe. Then he hits a straight thump, straight at Abbas, who saves three runs by taking a blow on the thigh. Tongue takes a single to equal his Test best – also made at Lord’s, on his debut against Australia in 2023.
63rd over: England 270-9 (Atkinson 38, Tongue 18) Josh Tongue, facing Mohammad Ali, is smiling again – and then playing a nice leg glance for four. When Ali resorts to a bouncer, he has no trouble swaying out of the way. He makes a great No 11.
The cameras find Gary Lineker in one of the boxes. He’s wearing a suit and tie, and he too has a smile on his face.
62nd over: England 266-9 (Atkinson 38, Tongue 14) Scrap that: Atkinson takes a leg-bye off the second ball of this over. As Tongue prepares to face Abbas, the keeper, Mohammad Rizwan, calls for a helmet and goes up to the stumps – so Josh Tongue is now being treated like Joe Root. The ploy could backfire by making Tongue’s nicks harder for the slips to pick up. And it doesn’t seem to bother Tongue, who plays an uppish flick for a single to steal the strike.
61st over: England 264-9 (Atkinson 38, Tongue 13) Ali bowls to Atkinson, who promptly steps away to leg, dreaming of a six over backward point, but connects only with thin air. The over ends in a flurry of singles – one to each batter and then a tight one to Atkinson, who may have decided that he needs to protect Tongue from Abbas.
60th over: England 261-9 (Atkinson 36, Tongue 12) Now Tongue has a whole over to face, and it’s from Abbas. Five-for time, surely? Not yet, as Tongue plays straight and even spots a slower ball. An even slower ball, with a wobble seam, which leaves a smile on both of their faces. When he reverts to normal speed, Abbas does find the edge, but Tongue gets away with it again and picks up two. This is now his second-highest Test score.
59th over: England 259-9 (Atkinson 36, Tongue 10) Atkinson, facing Mohammad Ali, sees a short ball, goes for the pull and again takes the single off the first ball. Tongue plays and misses – and, as Mike Atherton notes, looks quite pleased about it, seeing that the pitch is still offering movement. A single off a thick inside edge takes him into double figures for the third time in his 14 Tests. He should really raise his bat.
Meanwhile there’s an email that gets off to a punchy start. “There are times I wouldn’t trust the ECB to sit the right way round on a lavatory,” says Martin Sinclair, “but credit where it is due, they did well in appointing Sarah Taylor. They didn’t make a big deal of it, just brought a woman into what was previously an exclusively male environment, and let her get on with the job. While probably not as significant as women being granted the vote, in its own way, it definitely represents quiet progress.” Yes – and not before time, as there have been male coaches in the women’s game for ages.
58th over: England 257-9 (Atkinson 35, Tongue 9) Gus Atkinson, who loves playing at Lord’s, would be entitled to turn down a single, but he takes one off Abbas’s first ball. Tongue responds to this show of faith with an extravagant waft that would be curtains if Babar Azam had posted a third slip. Abbas then raps Tongue on the pad, goes up for LBW and even persuades Babar to review, but it’s going down.
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57th over: England 252-9 (Atkinson 34, Tongue 5) Josh Tongue, who has a Test batting average of 5, makes sure he’ll maintain it by steering Mohammad Ali wide of the slips and down the slope to the Tavern boundary. Otherwise it’s all dots and Ali has done the right thing by giving Mohammad Abbas the chance to get on the honours board.
The players are out there and Mohammad Ali is going to bowl from the Nursery End. I hope he’s got the memo….
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On Sky, Ian Ward has just done a quick interview with England’s assistant coach, Sarah Taylor. Asked about being the first woman among the England coaches, she reveals a nice detail. “The players just call me Coach,” she says, “which is how it should be.”
As we had a shortened day yesterday, this is going to be a longer one. Play still starts at 11, but the intervals are a bit later than usual – lunch at 1.15pm and tea at 4.10 – and the close may not be until 7pm. In theory, there will be 98 overs in the day; in practice, this is England and they haven’t picked a specialist spinner, so their over rate may well be abysmal as usual.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to something that looks suspiciously like a proper contest. After falling flat in Leeds, Pakistan came to Lord’s and stood tall. They won the toss and bowled well from both ends as Mohammad Ali enrolled in the Mohammad Abbas school of exacting accuracy. The fielding was patchy but good enough to restrict England to 248-9 on a surface that Stuart Broad had described as “probably a 250 pitch”.
Today, Pakistan have two jobs. They need to take the last wicket: in an ideal world, Ali will tactfully leave that to Abbas, so he can take his rightful place on the honours board after collecting two four-wicket hauls here in 2018. And then the batters, led by Babar Azam, have to knuckle down and make their way to a first-innings lead of about 100.
They don’t have the wind in their sails after Headingley, but they should have the weather on their side. Apart from a shower or two in mid-afternoon, the forecast is mostly sunshine. If you’re there, or even if you’re not, do say hello.
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