Simon Burnton’s report is in, so I’ll call it a day. Here’s one to ponder overnight: if England pull this off will it surpass their victory in the first Test at Rawalpindi two years ago? Rob Smyth and James Wallace will be with you tomorrow for more fun.
It’s an apt question from Johanna Mostyn: “Is there a test match which has the record for breaking the most records?”
Joe Root and Harry Brook speak to Sky (when they really should be inside in an ice bath).
Here’s Root (cheekily) speaking about his younger teammate: “For someone with so little common sense outside of cricket, the intelligence he has when he’s got bat in hand and the understanding of different scenarios and his own game is quite contrasting.”
Now then, let’s talk about Harry Brook. Or rather, just revel in his numbers. His Test average now sits at 62.5 – it jumps up to 111.4 away from home. He has four hundreds and a half-century in six innings against Pakistan. He’s England’s first triple-centurion of the 21st century. He’s pretty special.
This is a rather eloquent email in from Zain Malik, summing up Pakistan’s current predicament.
Salman’s resilience might just mean Pakistan lives to die another day. But, oh, how the mighty have fallen. Remember when teams would come to Pakistan expecting to be ground into dust by reverse swing and unrelenting pace? Now, they arrive with record books open, already sharpening their pencils.
Gone are the days when fast bowlers seemed to spring out of every alley, street corner, and backyard net. Wasim and Waqar their names alone enough to send shivers down a batting order. Now, it’s a miracle if we find one who can bowl two spells without consulting his GPS. And as for the middle order? It feels like eons since Inzamam, Misbah, Younis, and Yousuf turned cricket into a lesson in endurance, camping at the crease like they were moving in for the weekend.
Multan used to be a fortress where visiting teams came to bury their hopes, not set new records. Now? It’s just a stopover on the road to a thousand runs and maybe a round of golf after. Pakistan’s pitches aren’t just flat, they’re runways, ready for the next team to launch their stats into orbit.
It wasn’t so long ago that we took pride in our home turf, a place where legends were forged and visiting sides barely scraped together a win. Now? We’re just hoping not to lose by an innings. This is the new era of Pakistan cricket, where nostalgia hits harder than the bouncers ever did, and the only thing left to fear is heatstroke, not the home side. Pakistan’s position as an Asian heavyweight has long been squandered.
Stumps
37th over: Pakistan 152-6 (Jamal 27, Salman 41) Bashir reads the OBO and decides to go over the wicket … but drops short to let Jamal pick up three through midwicket. He’s quickly back to going around the stumps as Jamal and Salman hold on. They’ve fought hard – can they do it for another entire day? England remain on the path to victory.
36th over: Pakistan 148-6 (Jamal 24, Salman 40) Jack Leach trundles in quickly to allow England another over before stumps.
35th over: Pakistan 147-6 (Jamal 23, Salman 40) Bashir bowls around the wicket to the two right-handers, which I’m confused by. It seems a defensive line when England have runs and time to play with. Jamal swings hard through the leg side for four.
34th over: Pakistan 138-6 (Jamal 22, Salman 36) It looks as if we’re heading to a fifth day. Hardly a shock at the start of the day, it seemed like it might not happen an hour ago.
Sam Mackay writes in: “Do you remember the 2006 documentary ‘Zidane: a 21st-century portrait’? Where it’s just 91 minutes of Real v Villarreal focusing exclusively on a close-up of zizou? I’d love a 8-hour version focused on that brook-root partnership. Though at its best, test cricket coverage already has an element of slow cinema.”
I hadn’t heard of this until now – but I’d like to check it out.
33rd over: Pakistan 136-6 (Jamal 21, Salman 35) Bashir tosses the ball up outside off and Jamal sweeps across the line for four. Extra flight seems the way to invite a mistake from Jamal, going against Bashir’s more usual blend of quick, straighter deliveries.
32nd over: Pakistan 128-6 (Jamal 15, Salman 33) Carse whizzes through for another over, this partnership steadily building as Salman – a centurion in the first innings – delicately guides the quick behind point for four.
31st over: Pakistan 120-6 (Jamal 14, Salman 26) Bashir twirls away, hoping to make amends for his drop. Pakistan run hard to collect five off the over.
David Ward writes in: “Thanks for your updates on this ridiculous game we call cricket.
“I’ve been digging around in Statsguru for records that could be broken here, and I think this match could smash the record for the highest 1st innings score for a side going on to lose by an innings.
“If I’m right, Ireland currently hold the record with 492 against Sri Lanka last year, then England’s 477 v India in 2016. 556 would be a Beamonesque leap beyond those. Whether that reflects more on England or Pakistan, I wouldn’t like to say.”
30th over: Pakistan 115-6 (Jamal 13, Salman 22) Bashir drops a simple chance! Jamal pulls Carse towards deep fine leg, where the spinner ends up juggling and putting it down.
29th over: Pakistan 109-6 (Jamal 8, Salman 21) Shoaib Bashir gets a go, and Jamal resists a wild swing, three singles coming off the over.
28th over: Pakistan 106-6 (Jamal 6, Salman 20) Ramiz Raja and Urooj Mumtaz are debating the decline of Pakistan on air – should they lose here it’ll be their sixth Test loss on the bounce. Mumtaz rightly points out the revolving door of chairmen, selectors and coaches at the PCB over the last few years. Funnily enough, Raja was one of those chairs.
27th over: Pakistan 102-6 (Jamal 3, Salman 19) Salman attacks Leach, sweeping and driving to collect three boundaries. A century comes up for Pakistan, though it means very little at present.
26th over: Pakistan 87-6 (Jamal 3, Salman 4) Pope drops Jamal at gully – it would have been a stunner if he’d held on, diving high to his right to get fingertips. It seems that England require just three wickets for a win, with Abrar Ahmed in hospital after falling ill. Hope he’s OK.
25th over: Pakistan 82-6 (Jamal 0, Salman 2) This’ll be done tonight, right? Madness.
WICKET! Shakeel c Smith b Leach 29 (Pakistan 82-6)
Leach turns his arm over and Shakeel immediately meets him with a skip down the pitch: it’s a fine shot over mid-off for four. But Leach has him the very next ball! It’s zipped through, flatter, with Shakeel rocking back for the punch … but he edges behind to Smith, who collects well.
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24th over: Pakistan 78-5 (Shakeel 25, Salman 2) Atkinson tries out the bumper against Salman Agha as Jack Leach warms up for a twirl.
23rd over: Pakistan 76-5 (Shakeel 25, Salman 0) Steve Hoare writes in:
“Re: your comment on Bryson Carse looking every inch the test cricketer. Most of England’s picks nowadays seem to fit that description. From Tom Hartley to Matthew Potts to Gus Atkinson to Jamie Smith to Rehan Ahmed to Shoaib... they all seem to debut (at the very least) excellently. There’s not enough places in the team.”
It reflects well on the team environment, I guess. It looks a fun, relaxed side to be a part of which must make life easier as a newcomer.
22nd over: Pakistan 72-5 (Shakeel 21, Salman 0) Shakeel continues to bat on a different surface to the rest, driving Atkinson for four.
21st over: Pakistan 67-5 (Shakeel 16, Salman 0) Carse closes his over with a pearler, moving the ball away from Salman.
A correction from my previous entry is required as Stephen Brown sends me this very handy list. It’s Pakistan who have the record for the biggest difference between first and second innings totals, with 551 against West Indies in 1958.
Iain Chambers has asked: “Given the start to this Pakistan innings I’m wondering what is the biggest difference between the first and second innings of a Test team?”
I put Rob Smyth on the case, and here’s what he has to offer: the 435 runs between Bangladesh’s two innings in this seven-wicket loss to New Zealand.
20th over: Pakistan 64-5 (Shakeel 13, Salman 0) Woakes and co appeal after Salman Agha is hit on the pad, but there’s a massive inside-edge before contact.
England have conceded 550, put on the fourth highest total in Test history, and still might get an extra day on the golf course
— Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) October 10, 2024
19th over: Pakistan 59-5 (Shakeel 8, Salman 0) A replay shows that Carse’s delivery did keep low but it was a buildup of stump-to-stump pressure from the debutant. He looks a Test bowler.
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WICKET! Rizwan b Carse 10 (Pakistan 59-5)
Oh dear. Brydon Carse cleans up Mohammad Rizwan, thundering a ball through with his natural angle, towards the right-hander’s stumps, and the Pakistan keeper can’t handle the pace. Did it stay a bit low? Whatever the case, Pakistan’s misery continues.
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18th over: Pakistan 59-4 (Shakeel 8, Rizwan 10) Pope has a field set from the Stokes playbook, with close catchers in front of square on both sides of the wicket for the quicks. Shakeel doesn’t let it get to him, slicing Woakes behind point for four.
17th over: Pakistan 55-4 (Shakeel 4, Rizwan 10) Things are quietening down now, with these two looking more comfortable than the men who came before. The pair exchange singles off Carse.
16th over: Pakistan 52-4 (Shakeel 2, Rizwan 9) The game that’s haunting Pakistan at the moment? The first Test against Bangladesh in August. They made 448-6d in the first innings and lost … by 10 wickets. Shakeel and Rizwan made hundreds in that one. Back to the here and now: Woakes produces a maiden.
15th over: Pakistan 52-4 (Shakeel 2, Rizwan 9) Rizwan drives Carse through the covers for three to close the over, taking Pakistan past 50. They still trail by a whopping 215 runs.
14th over: Pakistan 49-4 (Shakeel 2, Rizwan 6) Shakeel, like Rizwan, has a fine record, his average in the fifties after 13 Tests. He laces a drive to end Atkinson’s over but a fine stop at cover limits the damage.
13th over: Pakistan 47-4 (Shakeel 0, Rizwan 6) Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel, both on nought, have to be the saviours. The former gets off a pair with a swivelling pull to the ropes. Just watching a replay of the Babar wicket: Atkinson got the ball to move away a fraction, squaring up one of the best in the world.
WICKET! Ayub c Duckett b Carse 25 (Pakistan 41-4)
Pakistan are imploding. Brydon Carse is into the attack, dropping slightly short with his first ball, and Ayub plays an awkward, thoroughly unconvincing horizontal-bat shot. The ball flies high into the air, with Ben Duckett, running back, holding on in the mid-off region.
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WICKET! Babar c Smith b Atkinson 5 (Pakistan 41-3)
Zak Crawley is in at silly mid-on as Atkinson bowls to Babar, who drives behind point for his first boundary. The seamer remains immaculate with his line, though, and he finds the outside edge! Babar pokes outside off and Atkinson gains further reward for a wonderful display with the new ball, Jamie Smith holding on behind the stumps. Pakistan are in all sorts.
12th over: Pakistan 41-3 (Ayub 25)
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11th over: Pakistan 37-2 (Babar 1, Ayub 25) Woakes tries to catch Babar out with a yorker, but the batter digs it out comfortably. A fine delivery on fifth stump follows, Babar deciding to let it go late in the day. He finally gets off the mark with the final ball of the over, whipping off his pads for one.
10th over: Pakistan 36-2 (Babar 0, Ayub 25) Atkinson produces some lavish movement off the surface, getting the ball to jag away from Saim Ayub, the ball presumably hitting a crack. One then keeps very low to flummox Ayub – the pitch is beginning to play its tricks.
9th over: Pakistan 36-2 (Babar 0, Ayub 25) Ayub slashes a cut to produce another boundary off Woakes. An lbw appeal follows moments later, but I think the left-hander’s got some bat on it. Babar Azam takes strike, his side needing a big knock from their best player.
WICKET! Masood c Crawley b Atkinson 11 (Pakistan 29-2)
That was coming. It’s really soft from Shan Masood, who’d already been dropped twice. His attempted leg-side clip goes horribly wrong, the ball lobbing up to Zak Crawley at short midwicket for the simplest of grabs.
8th over: Pakistan 29-2 (Ayub 18)
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7th over: Pakistan 27-1 (Masood 10, Ayub 17) And we’re back, with Woakes to skip in. He drops short and Ayub pulls him behind square for four. The seamer rediscovers his line and length to produce four dots on the bounce.
The list Pakistan are trying to avoid:
Highest first innings totals to lose are: 595-8 Bang v NZ (2016-17)
— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) October 10, 2024
586 Aus v Eng (1894/95)
556 Aus v Ind (2003/04)
“Pakistan is the cricket’s equivalent of Everton or Spurs should they lose this test after scoring 550+ in their first innings,” writes krishnamoorthy v. Is McCullum in the dressing room saying: “Lads, it’s Pakistan”?
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Tea
6th over: Pakistan 23-1 (Masood 10, Ayub 13) Atkinson appeals for lbw against Masood, but it looks high and leg-sideish. The seamer then gets his wobbling ball to sneak past Masood’s outside edge – that’s a gorgeous delivery. The end of the over brings the session to a close. Pakistan are still 244 behind; England should be very pleased with themselves.
5th over: Pakistan 23-1 (Masood 10, Ayub 13) Shoaib Bashir is introduced early – he’s got two lefties to turn the ball away from. Masood flicks to the leg-side for three before Ayub shows intent with a thump down the ground for four.
4th over: Pakistan 16-1 (Masood 7, Ayub 9) Saim Ayub’s a 22-year-old still making his way, this just his fourth Test match. He’s facing the heat, too, having gone cheaply in the first innings. Atkinson goes around the wicket to the left-hander, who cuts a short ball behind point for four. It’s slightly edgy but has conviction, unlike Masood’s drives in the last couple of overs.
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3rd over: Pakistan 10-1 (Masood 7, Ayub 3) Masood is dropped again! Again he’s half-hearted with the drive, hitting Woakes to cover. Atkinson leaps with one hand up, just like Woakes did the previous over, but fails to hold on.
2nd over: Pakistan 7-1 (Masood 7, Ayub 0) Dropped! Masood pushes at an Atkinson delivery and Woakes, leaping at mid-off, gets one hand to it but can’t hold on. Man are Pakistan a bag of nerves at the moment.
1st over: Pakistan 5-1 (Masood 5, Ayub 0) Masood – under the pump – plays and misses outside off stump from his first ball to get England even more excited. But the captain clips through square leg to get up and running with a boundary.
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WICKET! Shafique b Woakes (Pakistan 0-1)
Oh my days. It’s shaping up as an outswinger from Woakes, pitched full, but jags back in to the right-hander to bowl the first-innings centurion. Shafique is gone first ball. It’s an incredible start.
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Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub walk to the middle, having spent a couple of days in the field. Chris Woakes will open up for England.
I do worry for Pakistan’s captain, Shan Masood. He’s lost five from five since getting the job and would’ve safely assumed the end of that streak after the first innings, having top-scored with a 151. Now he’s got some work to do to save this match.
“England have now batted the same number of overs as Pakistan, and have scored 259 more runs,” wrote Simon McMahon an over ago. “120 or so overs to take ten wickets…” It’s a day for mad stats.
England declare on 823-7
Saim Ayub turns it enough to beat the batter and keeper, the ball running away for four byes. As Nasser Hussain points out on comms, that level of spin will please the English. And out comes Ollie Pope to call his boys in – England declare with a lead of 267.
149th over: England 815-7 (Carse 8, Woakes 14) “Might as well keep going to be the first team to reach 1000 in a Test,” writes Adrian Riley. Woakes pummels Naseem for four to keep that dream alive.
148th over: England 805-7 (Carse 6, Woakes 6) Brydon Carse shows off his batting chops by driving over extra cover for six from his second ball in Test cricket. England move past 800!
WICKET! Atkinson c Babar b Ayub 2 (England 799-7)
England are collapsing! Gus Atkinson arrives for a thrash and tries to drive over short extra cover, where Babar Azam clings on.
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WICKET! Brook c Masood b Ayub 317 (England 797-6)
It’s finally over. An exhausted Harry Brook makes his way off after top-edging a sweep to short fine leg, his teammates rising once again to applaud a historic innings. It’s the fifth-highest score for England in Test cricket.
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147th over: England 795-5 (Brook 315, Woakes 6) Poor ol’ Naseem Shah continues to thunder in. The promising young quick deserves a better surface.
146th over: England 791-5 (Brook 314, Woakes 3) Brook continues to feed on some poor bowling, pulling Saim Ayub’s drag-down for four. He’s running past the best efforts of the greats with every run – Younis Khan (313) and Hashim Amla (311*) are just a couple he’s gone past in that over.
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145th over: England 781-5 (Brook 306, Woakes 1) Hello, people. This really is nuts, isn’t it? Harry Brook’s gone past Brendon McCullum’s Test-best of 302 so he can lord that over his coach. Chris Woakes is in for a hit, though I’m still trying to figure out what England are looking to do here. Are they just waiting for Brook to get out before declaring? They lead by 225, and they’re going to need plenty of time to take 10 wickets.
WICKET! England 779-5 (Smith c Jamal b Naseem 31)
Smith holes out to long on to end a punishing cameo of 31 from 24 balls. That’s drinks, and time for me to hand over to Taha for the rest of this record-breaking day. Bye!
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Harry Brook hits 300 in a Test!
144th over: England 777-4 (Brook 305, Smith 29) He’s done it! Harry Brook clubs Saim back over his head for four to make the first triple-century by an England batsman since Graham Gooch on 27 July 1990. Sky should really have cut to the horse racing when he was on 298.
Brook is completely spent now, though he pointedly looks up in tribute to his late grandmother Pauline. That look to the sky has become a cliche to the point where we forget how poignant it must be, especially as the death of Brook’s grandmother was this year. My goodness, what are we watching here. Harry Brook is 302 not out from 310 balls with 28 fours and three sixes. It’s the second fastest of all time, I think behind Virender Sehwag.
He’s England’s sixth triple-centurion in Tests, joining this particularly short list.
364 Len Hutton v Australia, The Oval 1938
336* Wally Hammond v New Zealand, Auckland 1932-33
333 Graham Gooch v India, Lord’s 1990
325 Andy Sandham v West Indies, Jamaica 1929-30
310* John Edrich v New Zealand, Headingley 1965
305* Harry Brook v Pakistan, Multan 2024-25
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143rd over: England 768-4 (Brook 298, Smith 27) Another dropped catch, though this was a spectacular effort by the sub fielder Mohammad Huraira. Smith pulled Naseem towards deep backward square, where Huraira took a tough catch on the run, threw the ball up before he jumped over the boundarysponge but then stumbled as he tried to turn and come back onto the field of play. Without the slip he would taken a brilliant catch.
Smith slugs another boundary through the covers. England’s score is the highest in a Test in Pakistan and the fifth highest anywhere. We’ve come a long way from Durban in 1999, when England closed day one on 135 for 2 from 85.1 overs.
142nd over: England 759-4 (Brook 296, Smith 20) No boundaries and England still take eight from the over. Harry Brook is four away from 300. “Brave captain to declare on somebody so close to a milestone, Michael,” deadpans Ian Ward.
“Have England ever had this many ‘genuine’ batters with averages over 50?” asks Chris Drew.
It’s not easily searchable but I think there are at least two teams: one in the late 1920s/early 1930s and another after the second world war.
141st over: England 751-4 (Brook 291, Smith 17) Brook moves into the 290s with an amazing shot, charging the first ball of a new spell from Naseem Shah and smoking it almost nonchalantly over mid-off for six. A pull for two from Smith takes England past 750. Thank goodness Taha takes over in 15 minutes time; I’m all milestoned out.
Thanks to Tom Paternoster-Howe for pointing out that Athers’ line about Jamie Smith was a nod to cricket’s rich history.
“I hope that Jamie Smith reprised fellow wickie Arthur Wood’s famous line from the 1938 Ashes Test at the Oval,” writes Tom, “where he said to the gatekeeper ‘Just the man for a crisis’ as he walked out to bat at 770 for 6.”
The last time an England batsman made 300 in a Test, this was Top of the Pops
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140th over: England 742-4 (Brook 284, Smith 15) Brook moves into the 280s, only the ninth England player to do so. As Mike Atherton says on Sky, this innings wouldn’t have been possible before Brook’s fitness drive earlier in the year.
Smith saunters down to drive Saim for an immaculate straight six. “Jamie Smith, always the man for a crisis…” says Athers on commentary.
Smith tries again next ball, doesn’t get hold of it and is miserably dropped by Saud Shakeel at long-on. That was a sitter, one that he would almost certainly have taken at 440 for 4. But not 740 for 4.
139th over: England 729-4 (Brook 279, Smith 7) Harry Brook is still going strong. He charges Salman to clatter a perfectly straight six, clubs a one-bounce four over square leg and steals the usual twos. A single off the last ball allows him to keep strike again.
Brook has hit 61 off his last 36 balls. We’ve seen those numbers before.
“I like to think Ollie Pope just told Root they are going to declare immediately,” says John Plunkett, “and he has to go straight back out.”
And open the bowling.
138th over: England 714-4 (Brook 264, Smith 7) England skip past their 710 for 7 against India in 2011, so this is now their highest score in a Test match since 1938.
“It’s just dawned on me that Root and Brook ran over 300 of their runs,” says Phil Withall. “That’s quite phenomenal in these conditions. Not just talented but also incredibly fit...”
That’s an excellent point, one that Nasser has also made a couple of times on TV. You could argue it’s the single most impressive thing about the innings.
137th over: England 709-4 (Brook 261, Smith 5) In six and a bit Tests, Jamie Smith has batted in all kinds of different situations. It’s fair to say that 703 for 4 constitutes a new experience. He gets straight down the business by rifling his second ball through extra cover for four.
Incidentally, while Root got out to a weary shot, the ball from Salman did turn a bit. This game isn’t a nailed-on draw.
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The end of a record-shattering innings and partnership. Root whipped across the line, missed and was plumb in front. The entire Pakistan team make a point of shaking his hand, as does Harry Brook, and Root raises his bat wearily as he walks off.
He made a career-best 262 from 375 balls, adding an England-record 454 with Harry Brook. Look, just assume everything’s a record unless we say otherwise. In the course of his innings, a fortnight ago last Wednesday, Root also become England’s leading Test runscorer.
WICKET! England 703-4 (Root LBW b Slman 262)
Joe Root walks on an LBW!
England go past 700
136th over: England 703-3 (Root 262, Brook 260) Brook drives Saim for a single to take England to 700 for only the fourth time in their history. The last occasion was against India when they became world No1 in 2011. “England won’t make 700 again until the second Test on this ground next week,” deadpans Nasser Hussain.
Mercy. The 450 partnership is next, and this is now the fourth-highest partnership in Test history.
Harry Brook's first Test 250!
135th over: England 699-3 (Root 260, Brook 258) NURSE, THE EFFING WISDENS. Harry Brook races past 250 with successive boundaries off Jamal, a whipped pull and a jaunty steer over short third man. What an innings: 281 balls, 25 fours, 1 six. He is the most wonderful player, but this pitch is a joke.
Brook makes room to smash a third boundary over wide mid-off, accepts another overthrow and keeps the strike once again. Root has faced only three balls in five overs since lunch; Brook has hit 40 off his last 23 balls.
“Rob, it’s no surprise that that Root and Brook went On and On because in Pakistan The Sun is Often Out,” says Dan Gill, continuing the OBO’s latest topical theme. If you know, you know. And if you don’t, you’re not missing much. Except maybe the most underrated album of 1996 and one of the best songs of 1999. But you crack on, stream some Lewis Capaldi.
134th over: England 684-3 (Root 260, Brook 243) Saim gets one to bite and beat Brook outside off stump. England won’t mind that one bit, especially as it turned relatively quickly. Relatively. The pitch is still a belter, though, and even Jackson Lamb would struggle to nobble somebody on this.
“If Gary Lineker was in the team,” begins John Bray, “he’d by pointing to Ollie Pope and indicating someone should ‘have a word with him’, a la Gazza in Italia 90.”
133rd over: England 681-3 (Root 259, Brook 241) Brook is swinging at everything now, so if he hangs around he’ll be the first to 300. He slashes Jamal past backward point for his 34rd four, then accepts an overthrow after pinging a leg-side yorker just short of midwicket. An overthrow when the opposition are on 680! Pakistan’s players look as happy as Larry David.
“This is incredible,” says Dan Gladwell. “At the time of writing Harry Brook averages 140 in Pakistan and has scored over 200 runs more in the country than any other English batsman (and probably quite a few Pakistan batsmen too).”
And he’s scored a shedload in the PSL. Pakistan pitches are his Rushmore.
132nd over: England 676-3 (Root 259, Brook 236) “Brook should be targeting 229, the lowest score nobody has ever made in Test cricket (I think),” says James Scholey. “One of them should pick an unmade score anyway, to add to the stats bonanza. Well, he shouldn’t but it would please me.”
Too late. He’s playing a shot a ball now and has raced past it. He chips Saim over extra cover for four, a gorgeous stroke, then claters another to the same area. A couple of mishit shots land safely, allowing England to scamper more runs. This really is bonkers.
England's highest-ever Test partnership!
131st over: England 663-3 (Root 259, Brook 223) Aamer Jamal has drawn the short straw and will open the bowling after lunch. Actually he almost takes a wicket when Brook top-edges a one-handed pull that just clears the sub fielder running back from square leg.
He nails the shot next ball, though it plugs slightly and doesn’t reach the boundary. Nonetheless, the three runs make this England’s highest partnership in Test cricket, surpassing the (in)famous 411 by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey at Edgbaston in 1957. Those Wisdens pack a punch, eh?
“Hi Rob,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “My brother-in-law just said: ‘At this rate Root will surpass Sachin in this series.”
I hope you’re ready to be beaten around the head with the Wisden Almanack records section: the players are back on the field.
A very good spot from Richard Arundel: Joe Root’s innings is the 100th 250+ score in Test cricket. Here’s the list in chronological order.
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1 Joe Root 2 Daylight 3 Twilight
“On reflection, Steve Smith is a bit of a dilettante, isn’t he?” sniffs Paul Griffin. “Lacks the technique, and is short of the levels of mental concentration, to really stick around and get a few runs. And the England Ashes tour of 2010/11. If only Cook and Trott could have stuck around at the crease, England might have eked out a result down there. And Lara, don’t even get me started. Basically, a glorified nightwatchman. Bradman? Found out in his last innings, and retired - literally - just as has he was rumbled.
“More on my Substack, in which I also take down Leo Messi for being too short, and suggest New Zealand change the colour of their rugby jerseys. Brown. Tadej Pogacar needs stabilisers irl you know. Like and subscribe £££££.”
“A famous line from Geoff Boycott after he had been dismissed early in a big team innings was, ‘They’re out there getting all my runs’,” begins Peter Metcalfe. “You have to wonder if Pope is feeling the same.”
Pope, Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan have certainly suffered a dose of the Grahame Clintons – look at this scorecard.
A few of you have suggested England should be for the big records: Brian Lara’s 400 not out and Sri Lanka’s 952 for 6. In the parlance of our time, it’s not their jam. If it was a dead rubber then maybe, but not when it’s 0-0 and there’s an outside change of victory. As we saw in the first Test in Pakistan two years ago, they might need every single minute.
“Morning Rob, this is very strange,” says Andy Bradshaw. “I assume the plan is to grind the Pakistani bowlers into bloody stumps and bat till just after tea and then hopefully get wickets of exhausted batsmen straight away. And then prey on the Pakistani lack of confidence.”
Exactly, though maybe just before tea. I think they’ve played it perfectly so far. We’ll never know but my hunch is the Bazball 1.0 team would have smashed it everywhere and declared at around 600.
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Feels like we might be officially on #triplehundredwatch now?
— Daniel Brigham (@dan_brigham) October 10, 2024
Only Chris Woakes in this team was born the last time an England batter scored a Test triple-century, in 1990. Thatcher was still PM. Mark Robins had just saved Alex Ferguson’s job. It was a really long time ago.
Since you asked so politely, these are the 20 instances of two players scoring Test double hundreds in the same innings.
“Ah, memories of Foxy and Gatt in 1984-85,” says John Swan. “Listening to TMS on the radio while trudging through a foot of snow trying to get to school in your beloved Rochester. 652 for 7 seemed like an absolute monster of a score but felt like a lot harder work – partly the opposition, partly the expectations of the England team. That lot had come off the back of the 5-0 defeat to West Indies of course, and had Chris Cowdrey in the side!”
That’s a bit harsh on Chris Cowdrey, although I suppose he was the theoretical replacement for Lord Beefy.
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Lunch
130th over: England 658-3 (Root 259, Brook 218) Salman Agha gets a couple of deliveries to turn, albeit in slow motion, in the last over of the morning session. A couple of singles take Root and Brook’s partnership to an eye-widening 409, two short of the all-time England record, and completes a morning session that was both quiet and kind of amazing.
Root and Brook went on and on and on and on like a Longpigs fan in the shower, adding 166 in 29 overs. It took Root around 15 minutes to wake up, in which time he was hideously dropped by Babar Azam on 186, but after that he looked immovable. Both batsmen made their highest Test scores, becoming only the second English pair to make double hundreds in the same Test innings, and I really don’t know what else to say.
“I’m a bit surprised England aren’t going all out at this stage,” says Steve Hudson. “Chugging along at five an over is decent, but surely with their firepower, and wickets in hand, they could be going all out for an early declaration and looking to force a win? (This sounds a bit ungrateful given this majestic stand, but there you are.)”
It’s textbook mental disintegration. Break their spirit before lunch, smash them everywhere in the afternoon.
129th over: England 656-3 (Root 258, Brook 217) Brook smashes a sweep towards deep square, where the fielder (not sure who it was) saves two runs with a tumbling stop on the run. In the circumstances that’s an admirable piece of fielding.
One more over till lunch. The partnership is 407, five away from a new England record.
“Hello Rob,” says Matthew Doherty. “What happened to Bazball?”
It grew up!
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128th over: England 650-3 (Root 256, Brook 213) Brook brings up the 400 partnership with a delectably nonchalant uppercut for four off Naseem. The May/Cowdrey padathon at Edgbaston in 1957, when they added 411 runs in about 12 days against West Indies, is in grave danger.
“How are you doing, good buddy?” writes Robert Wilson. “I’d like to watch this cholesterol-reducing match all day but I have to get a train to Brussels (where the rain lives). Ok, this pitch is obviously all kinds of things and very much NOT all kinds of other things, and everything has the air of a Fenner’s Fill-Your-Boots session against the Combined Unis circa 1996n but this is, nonetheless, pretty stellar batting. This is the kind of partnership that, five months later, people don’t actually believe happened. The mix of those two is what the French call une ouferie (guessable) though they are less different than we imagine. It’s gotta be a titanic drag to bowl to them. They both seem to have the dogged literalism and inordinate appetite of an eight year old. I have to admit this is really hitting my special spot.”
Brook has been noticeably clinical in this innings. This might be, as Phil Walker said on the Wisden pod yesterday, because he’s batting with Root. You always want to impress the king and all that.
Joe Root makes his highest Test score!
127th over: England 644-3 (Root 255, Brook 208) The occasional allsorts bowlers Saim Ayub comes back on. Brook chips lazily over the covers for four, then Root drives a single to pass his previous Test-best, the clinical 254 against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 2016. Nurse, the Wisdens!
This pitch is a complete stinker, one for the books, yet I wouldn’t rule out England forcing a result. Pakistan look eligible for a third-innings fiasco.
“If you are signing up Shaheen for the Orkney Cricket League, please can he be on my team,” says Rob Disney. “I don’t fancy facing him, even if he is a foot shorter by the end of this Test.”
Imagine what he’d do on those matting wickets at the Pickaquoy.
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200 for Brook, 250 for Root!
126th over: England 637-3 (Root 253, Brook 203) Brook waves Naseem Shah for a single to reach a ruthless and frequently brilliant double century. It’s his first in Tests and, though batting is easy on this pitch, batting for hours and hours is not. He looks shattered as he takes off his helmet, looks up to salute his grandmother Pauline and then gives Joe Root a hug.
Root, the little scamp, reaches his 250 by reverse ramping Naseem for four. I don’t know about you but after the last 24 hours I feel almost milestone-drunk. Replays show Root actually missed that ramp, with the ball deflected for four off the pad, but it was given as runs.
England are having a bit of fun now. Brook tries to scoop Naseem, falls over and still gets two runs. England lead by 81.
125th over: England 626-3 (Root 247, Brook 199) Five singles from the over, the last of which takes Brook to 199.
England have gone at almost a run a ball today – 134 from 24 overs – with barely a risk.
“There’s something quite poetic about these two sailing past the famous score and partnership from 2010 in Australia,” says Guy Hornsby. “Were you on the OBO then, Rob? 566 and all that, eh. Trott and Cook will be perfectly happy with that. And while I’m not sure anyone’s going to write a book about this tour, this does feel important. I can’t remember the last big score like this, and these two are into the top 10 all-time partnerships for England too. Jaw-dropping, and I’m not sure my brain can come up with anything better than that at this hour.”
124th over: England 622-3 (Root 246, Brook 196) Root plays a lovely straight drive for two off Afridi, then an even better late cut past short third man for four. With the possible exception of 2021, he has never batted as well as he is right now. His risk-management is unfathomably good, and a series of twos move him to within eight of his highest Test score.
123rd over: England 609-3 (Root 234, Brook 195) Root scoops Salman over Rizwan, who read his intent but couldn’t reach the ball. The two runs make this England’s highest partnership against Pakistan, beating (I think) Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler at the Ageas Bowl in 2020. They’ve added 361; May and Cowdrey’s England record is 411. You can forget the world record.
“I do like this new world of waking up to the cricket,” says Pete Salmon. “Morning coffee and OBO, two of my favourite things. And a new phrase to utter gnomically at dinner parties, ‘Mind you they said the same about Eddie Paynter.’”
If only they hadn’t decommissioned Mock the Week.
122nd over: England 606-3 (Root 232, Brook 194) Pakistan enquire/plead for a catch behind when Brook is beaten by Shaheen. Shan Masood considers a review before deciding against it. Nothing on UltraEdge.
“Two double tons in the same innings,” says Showbiz Guru. “Would that be historic?”
Foxy and Gatt would like a word. The Chennai Test of 1984-85 is the only time it has happened for England. I’d have to check but I think there have been 19 instances in men’s Tests, most recently when Sri Lanka played Ireland at Galle last year.
121st over: England 605-3 (Root 232, Brook 193) Brook whack-sweeps Salman round the corner for four, despite a sprawling attempt from Shaheen Afridi. If I was thinkng about setting up a new T20 franchise league, I’d get in touch with Shaheen tonight because after bowling on this pitch he’d surely sign a 10-year contract to be the global ambassador for the Orkney Cricket League.
A wide brings up England’s 600 and they take 12 from the over with the minimum of fuss. I was going to say without breaking sweat but, well.
“These two only need another 56 to beat the record for England’s highest Test partnership,” says Mike Jakeman. “It’s a great opportunity…”
The symbolism would be nice, too, given the story of Peter May and Colin Cowdrey’s record stand. Chalk, meet cheese.
120th over: England 593-3 (Root 228, Brook 187) Brook works Shaheen for a single to move to 187, his highest Test score. Easy to forget, because so much happened afterwards, just how breathtakingly he played when he made 186 against New Zealand.
119th over: England 588-3 (Root 224, Brook 186) Brook makes room outside leg stump, a lot of room, to blast Salman through the covers for four. It’s easy to take such shots for granted but it really is remarkable batting, especially as he must be moisture personified after batting for so long in that heat. The usual ones and twos, the main cause of that moisture, make it 10 from the over. Brook has now equalled his highest Test score.
“Declare and try to bowl out Pakistan is not going to appeal when one looks at the pitch,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “So might as well let Root chase the 402 not out. The way things are going Brook might reach the 400 before Root.”
Not sure England would be into that sorta thing. And, rightly or wrongly, they will definitely think they can win this match. I reckon they’ve a serious chance of doing so if they keep batting for at least another two hours. There are still five-and-a-half sessions left in the game!
118th over: England 578-3 (Root 223, Brook 176) Saim Ayub comes on for an over and is milked for four singles. It looks like Salman Agha wants to change ends.
“It occurred to me that if Joe Root was a fictional character any half decent editor would dismiss the manuscript as being too outlandish,” says Phil Withall. “He really is such an incredible cricketer/person/demigod.”
Yeah, nice guys finish last and all that.
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117th over: England 574-3 (Root 221, Brook 175) Shaheen Shah Afridi returns to the attack. Brook is starting to indulge himself slightly now – I think he’s earned the right – and missed a premeditated ramp. Shaheen winces, Brook smiles.
When Brook inside-edges a single, Shaheen playfully (I think) puts his hands on Brook’s helmet in the why-I-oughta style.
“Rather surprisingly,” says Tom Irving, “these two have the first and fourth highest scores for England in Pakistan.”
Interesting that none of the top seven scores have come in an England victory, at least not yet.
Introducing … Sam Konstas, a barely 19-year-old Australian opener who has just made his second century of the match for New South Wales against South Australia. India is surely too soon; England might not be.
The 19 year old batting sensation Sam Konstas goes 💯 and 💯 in the Shield 🏏
— Damien Fleming (@bowlologist) October 10, 2024
Cam Green likely out for summer with Back surgery #SpotsOpeningUp
116th over: England 567-3 (Root 217, Brook 174) Salman is bowling miles outside leg stump from round the wicket. Root hits a boundary past leg slip, using his bat almost like a broom. Do people use brooms any more? It’s all Sharks and hand-helds I hear.
“It could be worse for Pakistan,” says Felix Wood. “If not for injury Ben Stokes would be due in next. Him coming in on a road at 600 odd for 4 could have been brutal.”
Sure could, though my instinct is that Stokes tends to fail more often than not in those situations. He needs jeopardy or some kind of challenge to function. No idea whether the stats support this or whether I’m talking out of my weary 7am derriere.
England lead by 11 runs and it’s time for drinks.
115th over: England 562-3 (Root 212, Brook 174) Another reason to keep Pakistan out there is that the second Test begins on this very same graveyard on Tuesday, so it pays to weary the minds and bodies of Pakistan’s quick bowlers in particular.
Jamal winces after stopping a Root straight drive with his ankle, but he’s okay to continue. A canny bumper surprises Brook, who tries to hook and is beaten. There was a noise but nobody appealed.
114th over: England 561-3 (Root 211, Brook 174) “Steve Waugh is a good call,” says Stephen Cottrell. “People often misinterpret ‘mental disintegration’ and think of it as a euphemism for sledging when it’s more about keeping opponents on the field for three days then writing a 700- page book about it. I hope England do the former. With no Olly Stone, the bowlers need to put their feet up for as long as possible today.”
I love the idea of Waugh’s tour diaries (which are actually really good) being little more than a device to prolong the mental disintegration of England players and fans. When it came to grinding teams down in the field, Allan Border showed even less mercy. An abiding memory of my first few years watching Test cricket is Australia declaring on 650 for 4 sometime on Saturday morning, then wrapping up an innings victory while I was at school on either the Monday or Tuesday.
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113th over: England 556-3 (Root 208, Brook 172) The average partnership between Root and Brook is 78, which puts them fourth on the all-time England list (minimum 1000 runs) behind these gentlemen:
Wally Hammond and Eddie Paynter (1933-39)
Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe (1924-30)
Allan Lamb and Robin Smith (1988-92)
A pristine drive for three by Root brings the scores level. Pakistan may be about to enter a world of pain. A world of pain.
112th over: England 550-3 (Root 203, Brook 171) The offspinner Salman is bowling around the wicket to the right-handers, firing the ball outside leg stump. After a single brings up the 300 partnership, Brook misses a sweep and is almost bowled round his legs.
England have had four 300+ fourth-wicket partnerships in their history; Root and Brook are responsible for two of them. Mind you, England didn’t win any of the other three Tests: Edbgaston 1957, Adelaide 2006-07, Wellington 2022-23.
111th over: England 547-3 (Root 202, Brook 169) Brook hits Jamal for successive boundaries, though the two shots could barely be more different: a flamboyant, on-the-run slap over extra cover and an efficient tickle to fine leg.
Bazball-era England haven’t always been a model of ruthlessness but this batting performance would have done Steve Waugh’s Australia proud.
Since Rajkot, when he was infamously dismissed trying to reverse ramp Jasprit Bumrah, Joe Root has scored 1109 runs at 92.41. Tellingly, they’ve been almost exclusively sober runs. As Andy Zaltzman pointed out on TMS, he hasn’t hit a six in that time.
👏 R💯💯T 😍
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 10, 2024
His SIXTH Test Match double hundred 🙌
Match Centre: https://t.co/M5mJLlHALN
🇵🇰 #PAKvENG 🏴 | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/FmsS21Zh0Z
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A double hundred from Joe Root!
110th over: England 536-3 (Root 200, Brook 160) Root reached his century with a reverse sweep and seems to determined to do the same for his 200. After three attempts, the second of which brings two runs, he gets a ball on the hip that not even he can reverse. So he pats it for a single to reach a mighty 200 from 305 balls. Like the man said, how on earth does he make batting look so simple?
It’s his sixth double hundred in Tests; only Wally Hammond, with seven, has made more for England. Since you asked, Don Bradman hit 12.
Brook ends the over with an outrageous shot, reverse sweeping from miles outside leg stump for three runs.
Apologies for the delay - here's today's YouTube link for overseas listeners (with some restrictions):https://t.co/JaDoFrgkjT#BBCCricket #PAKvENG
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) October 10, 2024
109th over: England 530-3 (Root 197, Brook 157) A double bowling change. Brook greets Aamer Jamal by walking down the track to clip languidly over mid-on for four. There was a bit of flamingo in that shot.
With the pitch still doing almost nothing – one or two balls have kept low – it feels like England’s best weapons are scoreboard pressure and possibly reverse swing.
108th over: England 525-3 (Root 196, Brook 153) With Abrar unwell, Salman Ali Agha is coming on to bowl some offspin. His second ball skids on to beat Brook, a nice piece of bowling, but then Root cracks three through the covers. He’s a boundary away.
There are reports that Abrar Ahmed’s fever is bad enough for him to be hospitalised, so it’s hard to see him being involved today. Mind you they said the same about Eddie Paynter.
107th over: England 518-3 (Root 192, Brook 150) Brook is beaten by a grubber from Naseem, then times the sweetest of cover drive for four to reach a brilliant 150 from 186 balls.
Naseem’s figures stinks (24-0-105-1) but he’s bowled pretty admirably on a hideous pitch for fast bowlers. Even an attack of Marshall, Thomson and Tyson would have struggled on this.
106th over: England 514-3 (Root 192, Brook 146) The home broadcaster show a short video of the commentator Rameez Raja chatting to Babar before the start of the play. “I promise,” he says, “it wasn’t a fielding session…”
England continue to tick along, with the deficit down to 43. Brook is taking time to get his eye in again; in terms of tempo adjustment this has been one of his better innings. It would be so easy, with his talent and record in Pakistan, to see a pitch like this and think you can hit every ball for four. He has been greedy rather than indulgent, an excellent sign after that slightly immature innings against Sri Lanka at the Oval.
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105th over: England 513-3 (Root 192, Brook 145) Pakistan’s main spinner Abrar Ahmed is off the field with a fever, which makes life even more difficult. Naseem beats Brook with a good delivery that kicks up to hit the keeper Rizwan on the neck. There might just be a hint of reverse swing.
Oh my dizzy days. Babar has dropped Root, a simple chance at midwicket. Root slugged a pull straight to Babar, who didn’t have to move but couldn’t hold on. You cannot do that Babar Azam: not on this pitch, not when it’s Joe Root.
Naseem goes down on his haunches, then waves his arms around in frustration when Root drives the next ball beautifully to the cover boundary. He’s eight away from his sixth double hundred in Tests.
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104th over: England 506-3 (Root 186, Brook 144) Root clips Shaheen majestically for four, placed perfectly between short midwicket and mid-on. As Ian Ward said on commentary when he hit his 34th century in the summer, “How on earth does he make batting look so simple?”
The pitch is still doing nothing, and while it wouldn’t surprise me if England declare just before lunch, I do think the best tactic is to bat on and on and let this recent defeat to Bangladesh swirl round Pakistan’s subconscious.
103rd over: England 500-3 (Root 180, Brook 144) Stiff or not, Root is able to scamper back for two after pushing Naseem Shah behind square on the off side. That’s another feature of this innings: only 48 of his runs have come in boundaries. He also hit 12 fours in his 88 against Pakistan in 2015-16. Like his beloved Graham Thorpe, Root can skin a bowling attack any way you like.
Brook also did a lot of running yesterday, more than usual, and he and Root scamper six in that over. A no-ball makes it seven in total, which brings up the 500. It’s not quite Brisbane 2010 but a scoreboard that reads England 500-3 will never fail to warm the heart.
“Morning Rob,” says Brian Withington. “I was just checking the numbers for that era defining first Test in Pakistan in 2022, and they are still simply mind boggling. Sustained scoring rates at over 6.5 (first innings) and over 7 in the second. It’s making the current iteration of England look positively sedate.
“What I’d forgotten was that the second and third Tests were relatively low scoring affairs - and of course, that England took all 60 wickets throughout the tour, which was almost as much of an achievement as the batting.”
It almost makes less sense with each passing day. And because the tour was such a triumph, the first 3-0 win in Pakistan, we forget how close the first two games were. It could easily have been 1-0 to Pakistan after two Tests. That makes the achievement even more special, both in the moment and historically.
102nd over: England 493-3 (Root 176, Brook 142) Shaheen starts around the wicket to Brook, who waves his first ball to deep backward point for a single. If he gets in again he’ll be eyeing a new Test-best score, 0same as Root. Theit targets are 186 and 254 respectively.
Root, who must be stiff as a board after being on the field for all bar eight balls of the game, is beaten on the inside by a very good delivery that just misses the off stump.
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Shaheen Shah Afridi has the ball in his hand. Shall we?
England have used the heavy roller this morning and I’m boring myself in the hope it will expand the cracks on this pitch. The problem, as Nasser Hussain says on Sky, is that so far the ball has done almost nothing off those cracks.
Simon Burnton’s day three report
Earlier this year Joe Root mocked Harry Brook for referring to him as “grandad” but it almost seemed appropriate as he hauled himself up to the dressing room at tea, 119 runs and 187 balls into his innings, using his bat as a makeshift walking stick while his fellow Yorkshireman disappeared ahead of him, vaulting the steps two at a time.
Read Ali Martin on Joe Root, the scamp who grew up to be a genius
It may be that, as well as cricket’s paywalled existence in the UK, this lack of ego and self-promotion has stopped Root fully transcending the sport. There was a time when the man of the series in a home Ashes win would have booked a spot on the shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
But in 2015, when Root achieved that feat, he did not make the cut. Root is not lacking in personality – far from it, he is a beauty – but somehow this understated excellence in his chosen field has never quite gone fully mainstream, unlike Andrew Flintoff in 2005 or Ben Stokes in 2019. This being a more low-key year for England’s Test side, the trend will probably continue (Spoty has long since lost its lustre anyway). But there is little doubt we are watching greatness right now.
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Preamble
Morning. When Ben Stokes became England captain in 2022, he was asked whether he might, like Nasser Hussain at the turn of the century, stabilise a desperate team by first making them hard to beat. “Nah,” Stokes smiled. “I don’t think there’ll be too many draws.”
He’s been as good as his word. In the Bazball era England have drawn only one of their 29 Tests, and that was because of two days of miserable, biblical rain in Manchester during the 2023 Ashes.
The next few hours will tell us whether England detest draws or merely dislike them. In their position, the usual approach to would be for at least three hours and go well past Pakistan’s first-innings total, but that would increase the chances of the dreaded D-word. An early declaration would make a positive result a bit more likely – but it might also expose England to another D-word, defeat.
It feels weird to talk about a team – an England cricket team – that would genuinely prefer to lose than draw. But that was unquestionably the case at Trent Bridge in 2022, albeit in slightly different circumstances, so it will be fascinating to see how England play this.
They will resume on 492 for 3, a deficit of 64, after a day of plenty for their batters. Ben Duckett defied a busted thumb to make the breeziest of 84s before Joe Root and Harry Brook gave a masterclass in the business of run-scoring.
Root became England’s highest Test run-scorer en route to 176 not out; Brook went up and down the gears like a veteran and still managed to score 141 not out from only 173 balls. There should be loads more runs out there today, if England want them.
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