Dorothy

That has to be a caveat when it comes to assessing England but Pakistan's myriad issues should not entirely detract from a fine performance from the home side.

Brook simply waited for Pakistan to bowl a bad ball - and, boy, did they bowl lots of those - rather than attempt to force the issue. If he can mix that measured approach with his breath-taking talent going forward, there is no limit on what he could achieve.

Saturday 22 August 2026 10:45, UK Ben Stokes has described the decision to leave Headingley off the schedule for the 2027 men's Ashes as "shambolic".

Headingley staged a men's Ashes Test in 2019 and 2023, both matches England won. The 2019 win, inspired by Ben Stokes, was one of the most legendary contests in Ashes history, ranking alongside Ian Botham's heroics of 1981 on the same ground.

No venue carries more Stokes history. It was at Headingley in 2019 that his famous unbeaten 135 dragged England to a record chase of 359, sharing an unbroken last-wicket stand of 76 with Jack Leach to keep that Ashes series alive in one of the greatest finishes the game has seen.

Lord's, Edgbaston and The Kia Oval all return, Southampton's Utilita Bowl will stage a men's Ashes Test for the first time, and Headingley and Old Trafford – home to so many of the series' most storied days – are nowhere on the roster.

The ground finds itself without a men’s Test for the next two years, not part of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s allocation for the visit of Pat Cummins’s Australia in 2027. They’ll have to wait until 2031 for that money-spinning fixture. With Old Trafford off the list, too, there won’t be a men’s Ashes Test in the north next summer. Sanjay Patel, Yorkshire’s chief executive, has called the absence of men’s Test cricket over the next two years “devastating” for the club, echoing the sentiments expressed in their most recent annual report and accounts.

The result made it seven consecutive Test victories at Headingley for England, a run that began with an innings win against Pakistan in 2018. It will be some time before they build on it, with the ground not hosting men’s Test cricket in 2027 and 2028.

It also extended England's run of wins at Headingley, which began in 2018. Their longest winning streak at another ground is six at Chester-le-Street.

Harry Brook, speaking at Headingley during the Pakistan Test, invoked his former captain's finest hour when asked how disappointed he was by the omission.

His blemish was missing out on the really big score that would have made it impossible for the selectors to leave him out when Bethell returns. Cox potentially has four more innings in this series to make himself undroppable.

For the second time in the match, Pakistan found themselves one down before scoring but this time it was Jofra Archer who made the incision. After adding 23 brisk runs with the bat first thing, his fifth ball angled into Imam-ul-Haq and flicked gloves that should have been lower as the opener swayed back.

Tongue first, who after splitting the ball with Robinson on the opening day finished with three for 43 and eight in the match. Now Tongue tucked up Saud Shakheel on 14 to send a catch to the lesser-spotted backward square leg, teased an edge off Shan Masood on 29, and pinned Salman Ali Agha lbw for one.

On day three, Ollie Robinson (3-29), Jofra Archer (3-50) and Josh Tongue (3-43) seized full advantage of a worn Headingley pitch as they took three wickets apiece, while Gus Atkinson (1-11) followed up with a wicket of his own.

"Every day. I think he's kept tabs on things," said Root. "It's just been great to have him on the end of the phone.

Trescothick could move to a white-ball only role, where McCullum remains England coach, but said he would "love" to stay on with the Test side.

Hussey has previous experience coaching England, having worked as a consultant when they won the T20 World Cup in Australia four years ago.

“We’ve been exchanging messages every day just to keep topping up on what we’re trying to do,” said Trescothick. “He wanted to touch base, see how things were planned out, how everyone had trained and getting the group back together.

“I’d love to play as many games as possible here,” said Root of his home venue. “It’s a surface that provides brilliant Test cricket and one that we’ve had quite a lot of success in recently. So it’s a shame that we don’t get to play here next year. But I’m sure we’ll see many, many more brilliant Test matches here.”

Pakistan’s misery was summed up by their stand-in captain’s response to whether the injured Babar Azam will return to lead for the second Test at Lord’s. “I’m more than happy to hand the captaincy to him,” said Salman Ali Agha. “Hopefully he’ll be fine. He’s our best batter so we definitely want him and to hand him the captaincy.”

In helpful conditions, it could not have gone better for England. Robinson and Tongue took eight wickets apiece, while Archer and Atkinson improved after a rusty first innings when they struggled to adapt following a month playing in The Hundred. Lawrence bowled only one over in the match.