England and Pakistan Begin at Headingley, Root Against Babar
Three Tests, starting at Leeds on Wednesday, with World Test Championship points on offer and two captains under very different kinds of pressure.
England and Pakistan begin a three-match Test series at Headingley on 19 August, the first leg of a tour that runs to the middle of September and forms part of the 2025 to 2027 World Test Championship.
The schedule
| Test | Dates | Venue | |---|---|---| | 1st | 19 to 23 August | Headingley, Leeds | | 2nd | 27 to 31 August | Lord's | | 3rd | 9 to 13 September | Edgbaston |
The sides
Joe Root leads England, with Harry Brook as vice-captain and Jofra Archer, Ben Duckett and Ollie Robinson among the squad. Babar Azam captains Pakistan, whose seventeen-man party includes Mohammad Abbas, Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan. Pakistan lost Abdullah Fazal to injury in late July and called up Abdullah Shafique in his place.
What is at stake
Headingley has a particular character that matters here. Our own records across Tests at the ground show how rarely a match there is drawn, which suits two sides who would both prefer a result to a stalemate.
For Pakistan the tour is a chance to convert a promising young seam attack into results away from home, historically the hardest thing for them to do. For England it is a home series they are expected to win, which is its own kind of pressure, and one their recent record against Pakistan does not entirely guarantee.
Play begins at Headingley on Wednesday morning.