Key events
12th over: England 55-2 (Cox 6, Root 1) Ali, long run up, arms flailing like a 5000m runner as he reaches the stumps. Just one from the over as they take the final drinks break of the day.
11th over: England 54-2 (Cox 6, Root 0) Abbas’ sixth over. Cox gets off the mark by flaying a friendly wide ball for four through the covers.
WICKET! Gay c Salman Agha b Ali 33 (England 48-2)
Mohammad Ali is the first change. Gay purrs three fours in the over, but Ali gets his man with the final delivery as Gay is suddenly wooden, turned around, legs twisted, and edges to second slip.
10th over: England 48-2 (Cox 0, Root 0)
9th over: England 36-1 (Gay 21, Cox 0) Duckett is beaten by one that zips away off the seam, and loses his wicket next ball to one that straightens all the way home.
“So happy to see Gay open in place of Crawley,” writes Michael Inglis. “These glorious off drives and clear leaves…” I actually enjoyed watching Crawley too, but there certainly feels less jeopardy with Gay. And his strokes are sublime.
WICKET! Duckett lbw Abbas 15 (England 36-1)
Clonked on the front pad just above the ankle. Given out on the field, Duckett screws up his face and asks Gay what he thinks. Tricky to send a senior partner on his way and they review, to no avail.
8th over: England 36-0 (Duckett 15, Gay 17) Another Crackerjack four from Gay, this time a square drive, is followed by five dots from Khurram’s fourth over.
7th over: England 32-0 (Duckett 15, Gay 17) Abbas snakes one past the outside edge of Gay’s bat as he leans forwards. But he picks up three next ball. Duckett picks up another couple through the covers – he’s moving along nicely though is yet to score a boundary.
“What about Wesley Hall? Where does he rank amongst the choices?” asks Michael Coad. Ah Michael, I think this conversation links back to Rob’s stint earlier this afternoon. I never watched Hall in the flesh, though he was terrifying by all accounts, but I am old enough to have seen Garner, Holding and Marshall and they were all magnificent.
6th over: England 27-0 (Duckett 7, Gay 14) The wished-for wicket not coming here for Pakistan. Come Headingley clouds.
Hello David Harris! “Lovely to see you on a Test OBO, but can we trust you’ll be back guiding us through the CC from tomorrow?” [I will be in Derby, on Stokes watch, should the rain fall and any OBO readers be bored]
“Anyway, in over 47 you said you couldn’t recall another season where rain had been so wished for – I can certainly remember matches where the subject line applied, in fact, I think some bunch of chancers even put out a book with that title.”
Very good, and thank you.
5th over: England 21-0 (Duckett 7, Gay 14) Abbas again, snake hipped, gazelle lean. Gay clips a fuller ball to the rope, and follows up with a silver service cover drive. A neat defensive shot from a lofty height – he must be six foot something – full stops the over.
4th over: England 13-0 (Duckett 6, Gay 7) The umpire raises a quarter of an eyebrow about Khurram’s follow through and the over ends with a Duckett leave.
3rd over: England 11-0 (Duckett 6, Gay 5) Nice to remember Pep Guardiola being turned down for the plush suite in the Aegeas Bowl Hilton as it was “reserved for Mohammad”, as Abbas tests Gay for five balls – before Gay gloriously drives a half-volley to the cover boundary.
2nd over: England 7-0 (Duckett 6, Gay 1) Khurram from the Kirkstall lane end. Gay, on a pair after the warm-up game, escapes the pressure with a single. In the shade of the dressing room, Harry Brook drinks a carton of something that looks like a milkshake.
England innings
1st over: England 4-0 (Duckett 4, Gay 0) Jerusalem is still being belted out as Pakistan review an lbw decision against Duckett’s back leg. Ooof, unlucky, it’s good but umpire’s call on height. Abbas proving a predictable menace in these conditions.
The roller rolls. Rizwan throws the ball from glove to glove. Mohammad Abbas is straight-faced in mirrored shades.
“Afternoon.” Hello Tom van der Gucht.
“Robinson seems almost more threatening and successful in Tests than county games which seems almost counter intuitive as it’s meant to be a step up…
“Is it because he’s being backed-up by more potent change bowlers than when playing for Sussex? Is it because international players from other countries have less experience of the conditions? Is he a big match player who takes it up a notch in front of large crowds? Does longer rest period rather than the county grind means he’s arriving fresher? Is it additional coaching and tweaks from the likes of Troy Cooley? Who knows, but long may it continue.”
I’m going to guess that the answer is a little of all of those. Plus international players have not faced Robinson as much, especially as he doesn’t play T20 . But, that being said, he has razed county lineups in the past as well.
The two smiling English shirehorses walk off the field together. Robinson has the ball in his left paw, but raises Tongue’s hand in his. A very nice opening two sessions for Joe Root’s England mark 2.
Robinson 18-3-51-5
Tongue 9.1-0-46-5.
WICKET! Abbas b Tongue 2 (Pakistan 171-10)
And five for Tongue too as Abbas’ off stump is sawdusted.
48.1 overs: Pakistan 171-10 (Ali 0)
WICKET! Khurrum c Atkinson b Robinson 14 (Pakistan 171-9)
Wicket number five for Robinson! Khurrum flaying for glory and Atkinson makes good his drop earlier in the over, taking the catch above his head at mid on, walking backwards as he does it.
48th over: Pakistan 171-9 (Abbas 2)
47th over: Pakistan 164-8 (Khurram 8, Abbas 1) Mohammad Abbas marches in at ten, a Test match average of 6.69. Tongue gets his reward after having to wait for his hat-trick ball.
”May I refer your OBO readers to today’s Private Eye, page 32,” writes John Starbuck. “Headed The Future of Summer the first item reads 1) England cricket team no longer saved from humiliating defeat by rain’, followed by 10) England cricket team saved from humiliating defeat by dist devils and tornadoes.
“Of course, this edition of the Eye was written and printed several days ago, but it could still point the way.”
Yes, I can’t think of another cricket season when rain has been so longed for – by the groundstaff at least.
WICKET! Rizwan lbw Tongue 12 (Pakistan 159-8)
Nips in-swerves in, Rizwan plays in mid air, and is hit on the back pad. It looks a bit high but is given out. Rizwan reviews –ah, he’s unlucky, umpire’s call on line and height. He trudges off.
46 overs: Pakistan 159-7 (Rizwan 12, Khurram 8) Robinson is back, over number 17, ain’t no flies on him. Smith up to the stumps. Khurrum gets a thick edge wide of third for four, and has a big swish at another, missing completely.
Hello Andrew Pechey. “I presume I can’t be the only one thinking that poor Josh Tongue must be feeling very hard done by, having taken 2 in 2, then being dragged from the field for sandwiches and cake, rather than charge in, full of adrenaline, at a fresh batter?” It does feel a bit of a swizz doesn’t it, though Tongue is such a nice man I’m sure he won’t complain. I actually though they were going to change the laws on that very issue – will delve into internet shortly.
45 overs: Pakistan 140-7 (Rizwan 11 Khurram 4 ) Slurp, Khurram swishes the hattrick ball through the covers for four. Tongue grins.
Here comes the hat trick ball
Tongue adjusts his collar, puts his hand through his hair and runs in. Two short legs, leg slip, leg gully, four slips…
Tea – Pakistan 150-7
44.4 overs: Pakistan 150-7 (Rizwan 11) I admit to thinking that Tongue looked out of sorts as Rizwan pinged the first ball of his over, something crusty and pie shaped, for four. Now Tongue is taking his tea on a hat-trick ball. England on top – time for a quick brew.
WICKET! Usman lbw Tongue 0 (Pakistan 150-7)
Tongue fires the ball into the front pad. A peach, a pear, a plum. Usman reviews, hopelessly. It’s two in two for Tongue and they take TEA!
WICKET! Salman b Tongue 21 (Pakistan 150-6)
Glorious! A wobble seam, nips back between bat and pad as Salman flows forward and demolishes the timbers.
44th over: Pakistan 145-5 (Salman 21, Rizwan 6) Archer again, Rizwan and Salman tick him for a single each..
43rd over: Pakistan 143-5 (Salman 20, Rizwan 5) Salman isn’t hanging around for a ball with his name on. Flays two fours from Tongue’s over, both 0ff wide balls, both heading happily to the deep third boundary.
42nd over: Pakistan 133-5 (Salman 11, Rizwan 4) That was Robinson’s last over and he’s replaced by Jofra Archer, who hasn’t (yet) been at his best today. His second ball is fat and loose and Salman tucks in but he finds his line after that, the last ball shimmying past Salman’s outside edge.
41st over: Pakistan 127-5 (Salman 7, Rizwan 4) Josh Tongue replaces Atkinson. He hits his straps straight away.
40th over: Pakistan 127-5 (Salman 6, Rizwan 3) The Leeds sun is out again, the Yorkshire wind pulling fleeces off then on. More excellence from Robinson, who has the ball at his command, jagging, surprising, whispering. Salman chips Robinson in the air and it beats mid-on rolling along for four. The next ball rips past the outside edge. Robinson gets an affectionate round of applause as he takes his jumper and retreats to to the rope.
39th over: Pakistan 123-5 (Salman 2, Rizwan 3) Rizwan continues to look as if he’s got an urgent appointment to get to, but Atkinson keeps him frustrated.
Apologies to Zain Malik, I’ve just seen your lovely contribution in my inbox, worth reading even if the weather has cheered up a bit..
“The visiting cricketer must first contend with the peculiarities of the local climate. The sky hangs low over Headingley, a vast sheet of grey through which the sun, presumably, exists somewhere. Moisture clings to the grass and gathers on the seats. The pitch is a threatening shade of green. Beyond the boundary, spectators disappear beneath coats and umbrellas while the floodlights will soon glow in what the calendar, rather optimistically, describes as summer. This is most certainly not what a “heatwave” looks like.
”Then comes the waiting.
”The covers advance and retreat. Groundstaff emerge, confer and disappear. Water droplets gather on television cameras. Broadcasters in raincoats staring towards the square, caricatures of English cricketing misery, wearing the anxious resignation of patients at the dentist’s reception waiting for a name neither particularly wants to hear.
”For Pakistanis, though, this is all strangely familiar. Test cricket has long played in the background of Pakistani life: on televisions in offices and bank branches, in shops and drawing rooms, followed intermittently between meetings, customers and cups of tea. And no fixture has tested that national appetite quite like a Test series in the English summer.
“The hours are convenient, the opposition familiar and the audience enormous; only the weather refuses to cooperate. England asks the Pakistani cricket follower to master one of the game’s more peculiar disciplines: spending an entire day watching almost no cricket at all.”
38th over: Pakistan 120-5 (Salman 0, Rizwan 2) Not since Ian Botham have England had a bowler able to produce such magic off a run-up modelled on a man trundling a wheelbarrow through the garden. Anyway, Rizwan isn’t hanging around, slog sweeps his second ball high into the air, chased down by the slips.
WICKET! Shafique b Robinson 61 Pakistan (118-5)
Neck. And. Crop. A ball that screams back and detonates.
37th over: Pakistan 118-4 (Shafique 61, Salman 0) Just a single off Atkinson’s over, with the stand-in captain yet to get off the mark.
36th over: Pakistan 117-4 (Shafique 60, Salman 0) Robinson resumes after drinks, he’s looking in good nick. And his bowling is too – line, length, everything flowing. It’s a beauty to dismiss Saud but, oh dear, the replay shows that Saud would have been not out, the ball too high. If only, if only…
WICKET! Saud lbw Robinson 5 (Pakistan 117-4)
A beauty that thuds into Saud’s front pad, the umpire waits, waits, picks his teeth, polishes his shoes and finally sends Saud on his way. Saud thinks about reviewing but faffs around for too long and is told he’s all out of time.
35th over: Pakistan 114-3 (Shafique 57, Saud 5) Headingley shuffles to the first boundary for 32 balls, an ironed collar clip through square leg by Shafique as the sun bursts through my Manchester window and simultaneously illuminates the crease in Leeds. Another single from Atkinson’s over and it is time for drink No.2 in this elongated session.
34th over: Pakistan 109-3 (Shafique 52, Saud 5) An Ollie Robinson maiden.
33rd over: Pakistan 109-3 (Shafique 52, Saud 5) Such a lagubrious run-up by Atkinson brings surprisingly fiery deliveries.. The edges continue to test the slip fielders, now Cox is rubbing the tops of his already bandaged fingers.
Fifty for Shafique!
32nd over: Pakistan 108-3 (Shafique 52, Saud 4) An outside edge off Robinson takes Shafique to fifty – 7 fours, 82 balls – a solid novella of an innings from the carnage of 6-2. England are keeping Pakistan on their toes here – an lbw appeal against Saud , just outside leg, and some muddled running which could have been exploited if Cox had managed to pick up cleanly.
31st over: Pakistan 104-3 (Shafique 49, Saud 4) Atkinson replaces Tongue, Saud advances and gets an outside edge just short of Ben Duckett at slip, the ball ricochets and hits him on the thumb, which he rubs ruefully. Another one snakes past the outside edge – Atkinson is consistently hitting 86mph here.
30th over: Pakistan 104-3 (Shafique 49, Saud 4) I was just about to type how sunny it was over Leeds but the clouds have crept back over and as the camera pulls away Headingley is shrouded in a frowning gloom. Robinson isn’t offering Pakistan any light relief, bar a no ball and now an offering on legside which Shafique ushers away for a couple.
29th over: Pakistan 101-3 (Shafique 47, Saud 4) Imam roars in frustration as he marches off and swishes his bat. A really smart catch by Brook too. Tongue is now in the zone – bowling horridly fast and with zing. He gets one to move back in against Saud and tonk him on the pad. They fancy it behind the stumps but Tongue shrugs and replays show an inside edge. Saud picks up an emergency four through gully from his last ball.
WICKET! Imam-ul-Haq c Brook b Tongue 42 (Pakistan 97-3)
Imam plonks his left boot out at an angle and drives with enough waywardness that Brook can stoop to conquer at second slip.
28th over: Pakistan 97-2 (Imam 42, Shafique 47) Hello, and thanks Rob for that long stint that embraced Ollie Robinson magic and this solid Pakistan fightback. A couple of singles off Robinson’s over.
27th over: Pakistan 95-2 (Imam 41, Shafique 46) An overpitched delivery from Tongue is punched sweetly to the left of mid-on by Shafique. Four more.
Since his recall in Trinidad earlier this month, Shafique has scored 228 runs without being dismissed.
Time for me to hand over to Tanya Aldred for the rest of the day’s play.
26th over: Pakistan 88-2 (Imam 40, Shafique 40) Robinson completes a maiden to Imam. Jamie Smith came up the stumps for the last ball of the over; that tactic is so damn hot right now.
Imam is all strapped up and ready to continue.
25.3 overs: Pakistan 88-2 (Imam 40, Shafique 40) Ollie Robinson replaces Josh Tongue, who will presumably change ends. His first ball is timed at 72mph but still does enough off the seam to beat Imam. Oh, Keysie.
Rob Key is the only man in Test history to be dismissed by both Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn. But I didn’t think the poor guy would be haunted by dobbers 25 years later.
Imam defends against Robinson and then calls for the physio. He started to set off for a possible single, then winced as he returned to his crease. It looks like a calf problem, albeit a twinge rather than a tear. The physio is strapping it up.
25th over: Pakistan 88-2 (Imam 40, Shafique 40) Archer’s first ball after drinks is a bit of a freebie. Imam cuts it for four but then plays and misses at a snorter from round the wicket. The ball is still doing enough when England get their length right.
The three Hundred bowlers have been straining for accuracy all day. When Archer strays on the pads, Imam helps himself to three more behind square.
Drinks break
“I’d have Sir Anderson Montgomery Everton Roberts, KCN, right up there in the highest echelon,” writes Andrew Goudie. “Calm, composed, lethal menace.”
Plus one of the great bowling brains and a quicker bouncer that kept a few dentists in business. I used to love hearing Michael Holding talk about Andy Roberts.
24th over: Pakistan 81-2 (Imam 33, Shafique 40) Shafique is beaten by an unreal delivery from Tongue: full and angled in before spitting like a leg break.
Another good stat on Sky. In Tests, Josh Tongue averages 23 against right-handers and 39 against lefties. He wants Shafique on strike as much as possible.
When Tongue drifts onto the pads, however, Shafique touches him round the corner for four. The next ball is too straight and clipped with authority to midwicket boundary.
Terrific batting, that, particularly the second shot. It would have been easy for Shafique to go into his shell while Tongue was working him over.
23rd over: Pakistan 71-2 (Imam 33, Shafique 30) England look a bit flat in the field. This isn’t the time for the full short-ball ploy, but Root has tossed a eggs in that basket by placing Emilio Gay at long leg for a top-edged pull. Nothing doing in that over.
22nd over: Pakistan 70-2 (Imam 33, Shafique 30) Tongue, who has a fine record against right-handers, is already causing Shafique problems. He’s squared up by an unpleasant delivery that rips from a length to hit him high on the back leg. Too high for an LBW appeal but a fine bit of bowling.
21st over: Pakistan 69-2 (Imam 33, Shafique 29) Shafique takes a quick single off Archer and is comfortbaly home when Lawrence’s throw hits the stumps. Lawrence, always entertaining…
“No Courtney, no party, as far as that bowling line-up is concerned,” says Sean Clayton. “I don’t remember much Windies cricket before the mid-80s but my gut still wants to go with Walsh, Ambrose and Marshall before even looking at anyone else…”
I’d have him half a rung – okay, a quarter of a rung – below Ambrose, Marshall, Garner, Holding and probably Roberts. That said, if I was picking only two of those West Indian quicks to shoulder a crap team, Courtney would be first choice. Some of the never-ending spells he bowled at the turn of the century were incredible. My deputy will tell Sylvester Clarke.
20th over: Pakistan 68-2 (Imam 33, Shafique 28) Josh Tongue comes on for Atkinson, who bowled a mixed spell of 7-0-30-0.
There’s a nice variety in this England attack, even though they have four right-arm quicks. Tongue is the bovver boy, or maybe the Paulie Walnuts figure, and he almost takes out Shafique with a sizzling second delivery that beats the bat and whistles past the off stump. A good start.
19th over: Pakistan 66-2 (Imam 32, Shafique 27) Archer concedes his first runs when a gorgeous on-drive from Shafique runs away for four. That brings up an increasingly assured fifty partnership with Imam.
After bowling an absolute jaffa from round the wicket to beat Imam, Archer overpitches and is clattered through the covers for four more. Risk y reward.
Imam pushes three more through mid-off to leave Archer with unusual figures of 4-3-12-0.
