Root's Second Spell as England Captain Starts With an Innings Win
Joe Root replaced Ben Stokes, Stephen Fleming replaced Brendon McCullum, and England's first Test under both finished inside three days.
England have beaten Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs at Headingley, inside three days, in Joe Root's first Test of his second spell as captain.
The change at the top
Root was named England's Test captain at the end of July, replacing Ben Stokes, who retired from international cricket after the New Zealand series in June. Stephen Fleming was appointed Test head coach in place of Brendon McCullum.
Root, 35, had already captained England in a record 64 Tests between 2017 and 2022, winning 27 of them. Stokes had publicly endorsed the vice-captain, Harry Brook, as his successor. The selectors went back to the man who had done the job before.
The pairing of a new captain and a new coach in the same summer has been read widely as the end of a defined era in English cricket. Whether it is that or a change of emphasis is a question one Test cannot answer.
The match
Pakistan batted first and were dismissed for 171 in 48.1 overs. Ollie Robinson took five for 51; Josh Tongue took five for 46. Abdullah Shafique made 61.
England replied with 409. Harry Brook made 91, Jordan Cox 73, and Root himself 66. Ali Usman took five for 95, a maiden Test five-wicket haul.
Pakistan's second innings lasted 135. Robinson took three for 29 and Tongue three for 43, giving each of them eight wickets in the match: Robinson eight for 80, Tongue eight for 89. Jofra Archer took three for 50.
Two bowlers taking eight in a Test that lasted under three days is unusual on its own. That both did it with the same shape of spell, five in the first innings and three in the second, is the kind of symmetry that does not repeat.
Pakistan's week
Babar Azam missed the match, ruled out after being hit on the hand in a warm-up at Beckenham, having already been struck on the middle finger of his right hand against West Indies earlier in the month. The finger was not broken. Salman Ali Agha captained Pakistan in a Test for the first time, and the coaching staff expressed hope rather than confidence that Babar would return for the second match.
Losing your most experienced batter on the morning of a series opener, in England, in August, is close to the worst version of that news.
What is next
The second Test starts at Lord's on 27 August, with England 1-0 up and Babar a possible return. The third is at Edgbaston from 9 September.
Pakistan sit ninth in the current World Test Championship cycle. England sit seventh despite this win, which is its own comment on the fourteen Tests that preceded it.