Clinical England power to series win over Pakistan

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You're listening to the TMS Podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

Well, let's look back on what has been a successful day for English cricket as they've beaten Pakistan by 194 runs here at Lord's, and they've registered a series victory for the first time in nearly 2 years. They've taken an unassailable 2-0 lead, and alongside me I've got Michael Vaughan, I've got Jonathan Agnew, I've got Ramiz Raja, Michael, let me come to you first. A dominant performance, it was never in doubt.

No, it wasn't. I mean, I guess you go back to day 1 when Pakistan won a good toss, had England 70 for 4, Joe Root and Harry Brook back in the pavilion. That was really Pakistan's chance to really get on top of England, but Jamie Smith played great, Jordan Cox played really well in the first innings, and 290 here. I think in the conditions that England were Asked to bat in that first innings was probably about 150 over par. They should have really been bowled out for about 140-150. That was Pakistan's chance; they didn't take it. And from there on in, we know that this Pakistan batting lineup is so vulnerable against this kind of potent England four-man attack.

Let me let me just hold you off there, Michael, because I think Jonathan's with Barbarazza.

I am with Barbarazza. Well, Baba, disappointing result for you?

Yes, very disappointing. I think. In first inning, we have a very good start. We are sticking under 200-250, but in the end, again, first inning, we are not a good score. And after that, we again bowling, and I think the way Abbas bowling, outstanding spell. And then second inning, again, we're not up to the mark with the opening batsman. And then collapse. And then I think the way South playing is showing his class.

He showed the way, really.

Yeah, to be honest, yes. Look good to watch him, like, easy, good play.

Yeah, it's a very good toss to win, but England got 290. I guess that was probably a few too many.

Yes, you are right. I think we stick 250 because we take early— took early wickets. And then I think, uh, uh, uh, tail— his tail is playing very good. Uh, they put runs on the board and then they stick on 390— sorry, 290. And then, uh, yes.

Can you tell me what you think of England's bowling attack? I know that the pitches generally have been quite helpful, I think, and the conditions. But overall, what do you think the balance of England's pace attack looks like?

A very decent bowling lineup because they have 3 quick bowlers and then Robinson with the seam bowler. So they help in conditions early on with the new ball. Robinson is using his skills and the rest of them have quality fast bowlers. So yeah, I think a good bowling lineup.

Yeah, you must be a bit jealous because you're missing some pace, yes?

Yes, unfortunately we have a pace attack not like that, but yes, we have a couple of bowlers back home. So we, when we're going back, we are discussing our bowling lineup, looking forward to the Test matches and other cricket. So everyone knows if you have like 140-145 bowlers there, then different ball game.

So you have one or two back at home who might be able to come in?

Let's see. But we are find out because we are already looking for this thing and we are like all Lahai Shaheen, Naseem Shah, lot of young bowler is coming. So yeah, we're trying to do. But I think the way Abbas and Mohammad Ali is bowling, I think definitely we appreciate that bowling because Abbas has experience, Mohammad Ali also have experience, so he utilized very good.

Yeah, and it's nice to see Mohammad Abbas get his 5 wickets and go on the board. Yeah, he's very pleased.

Very pleased. And, uh, I think his hard work, his dedication, and his focus is very, uh, high because he's playing a lot of county here. He knows how to bowl, how to control the line and length, different pitches. But, uh, as a captain, uh, very disappointment for Saush Gill. Uh, so yeah, but unfortunately he's a cricket I must ask you one question.

There was a story on the first day about the Sky television showing the film of Imran Khan's sons and maybe Pakistan not wanting to come out to play. Do you know anything about that story?

No, I'm not. I heard that story, but I'm not saying we are not saying like we are not coming here or not playing. I don't know, but it's rumor.

That puts that to rest. Baba, thank you. Wasir Edgbaston, thank you for talking to us.

Thank you, Jonathan. I've got Rameez Raja with me. Obviously a very disappointed Babar Azam. He's pointed out that Saeed Shaquille batted really well, Mohammad Abbas bowled really well. But to be frank, has anybody else played at all well in these first 2 Tests?

Not really. He's got to stand up and face the heat. It's as simple as that. Babar Azam remains their best player, but the way he got out didn't send strong signals back to the dressing room.

I'm just going to cut you off there because Jonathan is with Joe.

Joe, congratulations. A series win after a couple of years, that must feel good.

Yeah, it does feel good and fully deserved as well. I think the guys have been excellent. I actually feel like we had the worst of the conditions for most of the game. I had obviously a little bit of assistance towards the end there, but we had to work hard for it towards the back end. Fair play to Saud, I thought he played nicely, but the sort of relentless nature in which the guys kept coming, it always felt like we were going to create chances and we were going to get there in the end. Brilliant performance, nice to start as we have, and we've got to keep rolling forward and looking at how we can keep improving and building on these 2 games.

Yeah, and to work hard and get 290 in those conditions in the first innings is a good effort.

Brilliant. Not just that, but, you know, even Dan, the way that Dan played in particular, I think he got a really good tempo on that wicket. He clearly had to take a little bit of risk with how naughty it was and how it was playing at that time, so Brilliant to see him come in and show 2 kind of very contrasting ways of playing, but within his own game frame. And, you know, for us to amass the amount of runs that we have in the conditions that we've had to deal with, I think it's been really impressive. So again, we'll have a new set of challenges and conditions to deal with when we get to Edgbaston. Can we evolve again? Can we adapt to what's in front of us? And can we keep sort of broadening what we've already achieved so far in this series?

We all felt very sorry for Emilio Gay. I mean, he's working hard, he's playing nicely, and then you get something like that.

And sometimes you have seasons where it's just hard for batting. And you look at the amount of movement there's been throughout the summer, particularly here at Lord's. And, you know, you're at the top of the order against the fresh bowlers, against a fresh ball, and sometimes a fresh pitch as well. It is the hardest time to bat. And I think you've got to have context around everything and the way that he's playing, the way that he's lining it up and You know, that 30 on that pitch is worth a lot more. You know, it's almost equivalent of a 70 on a flat wicket. So I think that's important to remember as well. And, you know, and it's the same throughout the batting order, to be honest. So in the context of the game, I thought it was a brilliant knock and he should take a lot of confidence from it.

Yeah, good. Let's talk about, well, your situation. You know, you work so hard at your game.

These LBWs with the keeper standing up, is that starting to niggle away at you and you're trying to work out a way why it's happening and what you're going to Well, clearly you're always looking to improve and you're always looking to evolve your game and find ways of making it difficult for bowlers to bowl to you, 4 of which I think have been umpire's call, 3 of which have been here in these conditions where it's moving significantly. I think again you've got to look at it from a realistic point of view. Clearly there's a trend there and it's happened a couple of times, but to what extent is it something to be really, really concerned about? You know, if I was getting out like that and other ways Then, you know, that's even more concerning. So of course I'm aware of it, but, you know, I've got 14,000 runs for a reason. I can play, and I've managed to get through difficult phases throughout my whole career, and I don't see this as being any different.

And it's working for Ollie Robinson. I mean, that whole tactic of having a keeper up, I mean, crikey, how is he bowling at the moment?

He's bowling beautifully. But, you know, you ask good questions of guys' defense for long periods of time on a wicket that gives you assistance, you're gonna cause problems. And, you know, he's been phenomenal.

Relentless.

Relentless, yeah. And great contrast with the other guys at the other end as well. You've got 90 miles an hour from the other 3 fellas. You know, even Gus today bowling 92 miles an hour at times. It's really impressive stuff, and I think it's a really well-balanced attack. So the more they can complement each other and dovetail and sort of complement each other's skill sets, it's only going to be a good thing for us moving forward. It's just, I suppose, getting used to it, Seeing how it works, having a good understanding of it for me as a captain, for them as bowlers, and for us as a side. And the more that that happens, I think the better for it will be.

You've got to go. Quiet night tonight?

Yeah, of course.

Thank you, Joe.

Thank you, Jonathan. Quiet night tonight. Yes, I dare say it will be. Michael Vaughan, England have been sensational really in this match. If you took out Saad Shaquille's 97, they bundled They bundled Pakistan out for basically under 100 without that 97. They bowled them out for 110 in the first innings. They've had them out for under 200 in the first— the 2 innings up at Headingley. They feel irresistible at the moment. Is that because they're playing really well, or is it because Pakistan have been abject?

Oh, I think a bit of both. England are playing really well, uh, the bowlers are all confident, and then obviously Pakistan's batting is, uh, it's brittle, you know. I think England know that they can get in amongst them and When you're looking at Babar Azam, who's not in fine form, who's a class act, I think England know that they can target the captain. You're going to speak to a bowler, Ollie Robinson, with his 3rd man of the match of the summer.

3 man of the match, what a summer!

Yeah, it's been a pretty special one, hasn't it?

And a baby.

And a baby, yeah. A lot's gone on, but I couldn't be prouder of what I've done the last few months. Coming back into the team after a lot of hard work, and obviously thought my career was sort of done with England, so to come back in and Putting these match-winning performances, it's really special.

Yeah, I mean, do you feel you're proving some kind of point in any way? I mean, what's going on in your head? He's running up and taking all these wickets.

I'm just trying to be ultra consistent and just do my job, I suppose. I think in the past maybe got carried away with everything else going on around me, but I think at the moment I'm just trying to focus on doing my job, being ultra consistent. And sometimes the wickets will come to me, sometimes they'll go to other guys, and at the moment they're coming to me, so It's also a great attack to be a part of, I think, with the high pace that the other guys have got and skill as well. It helps me a lot. I can sort of bowl very defensive, very patient, and that's kind of what I've done my whole career. So it really helps me out as well.

And when times do get hard, which they will, what are you going to take away from your mindset as it is set at the moment that will help you through that, do you think?

I think just consistency and the skill that I know that I've got. I've got more in my armoury than I'm showing at the moment, I would say. Obviously these pitches.

Really? Are you swinging it both ways and nipping it both ways?

But I'm bowling a lot of wobble seam on these pitches. They're helping a lot. I think on flatter pitches I would swing it more and maybe try and go up and down the gears a little bit to play with the batters and things like that. So the pitches have helped a lot with sort of how I bowl. But yeah, it's just been amazing to get a few wins and play some Test cricket again.

Well, it's been a pleasure watching you, Ollie. Well done. Congratulations and enjoy that. Well done.

Cheers.

Bye-bye. Ollie Robinson has been absolutely sensational. I've got Phil Tufnell alongside me. He said just there that the pitches have been assisting him. He's got lots more in his armory, he says, on, on other pitches, on flatter pitches. He'd been bowling swing and whatnot. He doesn't need to do anything different at the moment, does he?

Well, no, absolutely. What a summer he's having. But, uh, yeah, he's a very, very skillful bowler. He's a bit of a throwback, isn't he? You know, what I'm going to do is run up and bowl and hit the top of off stump, challenge your technique, I'm not going to give you any free sort of scoring 4 balls to just whack around. I'm going to tie you down, and if you want to come for me, well, you're going to have to take a risk. And it's just worked like a charm for him this summer. He's bowled absolutely beautifully. And I think you're right, I mean, he's got that wobble seam, he can swing it, he's got it all there.

Ravi Saraja, I've got to come back to you. Have Pakistan got any better between the first and second Tests? Or is— I mean, are they learning on the job? Is anything getting better?

I mean, tail-enders are still woefully short of anything, and openers are struggling except for Saad Shaquille. I mean, and, and the real minus was how Babar Azam got out. I mean, that really didn't go down well with me at all. So the, you know, just here I was telling him, get the tennis ball out and start practicing the pull and the hook shot. I mean, you will be targeted again, and that's the, the, the beast in side of the game. Um, this— they see a shot coming and they seize on it. But Pakistan's performance just slightly better. Maybe Abbas's 5-for, South Shakil's 90-odd. But other than that, you're on the losing side, people forget about this 5-for and 90s.

And Bob has dismissed on Michael Vaughan that it was a short ball and it's going to encourage England to bowl more of them at him come Edgbaston. But it must have happened to you in the past where you might have got a little tangle about with a short ball. I mean, what do you do to Remedy this?

Um, I mean, you also go on the back of his, uh, hand injury. You know, he missed the first Test with a bruised hand, so he's been hit on those hands quite a few times. He got himself in a real pickle. But when you're facing Jofra Archer from, uh, the pavilion end here at Lord's, he's not the last batter that's going to get in a pickle, particularly right-hander where the ball follows you down the slope. Um, no, he was in two minds, wasn't he? Does he stand up and play? Does he play the pull shot? The one thing that you have to be to the short ball is ultimately committed. You've either got to get out the way and sway and weave, or you've got to be completely committed to playing the pull shot and the aggressive shot. But yeah, for Pakistan to compete that little bit harder, you know, Babar's gonna have to get a big score. You know, for them to get the 300 pluses, Babar's gonna have to get a number by his name.

Rameez, what was it about that dismissal that so disappointed you?

It's the way he got out. I mean, you know, There is a thing about being scared of the short ball and being off balance and not being able to read Jofra Archer's bouncer, given that Jofra Archer doesn't have a lot of variation, doesn't change his, his, uh, his bowling style when he's bowling that short ball. But you've got to be in a better position. He was just squared up, uh, and then he took his eyes off the ball, and so that To me indicates that he's not really good against short pitch bowling, and I'm sure England will once again try to target him.

You're listening to the TMS Podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

Prep for a busy week with Whole Foods Market. Start your day with fully cooked breakfast sausages from Amy Liu, 365 brand frozen waffles with no bleached flours, And of course, Whole Foods Market eggs, which are all cage-free or better. In the evening, bring home a build-your-own family meal that feeds 4 for just $35. Choose 1 entrée and 2 sides. Shop smarter, not harder, at Whole Foods Market.

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Jonathan Agnews alongside me. England have now had two Test matches under Joe Root. Do you think that they would have played differently if Ben Stokes had been captain and Brendan McCullum had been the coach than the way they played here now?

Well, I think possibly. I mean, it's a difficult question, is it? But I did think the way they battle. Well, I think the way they batted themselves through in that first innings in very difficult conditions and also at Headingley as well, the way they batted there were ways, an approach that you probably wouldn't have seen certainly in the last couple of years. And that's, that's, that's really good news. You know, that's— I think it's, it's what, you know, that's really what you want to see. I mean, what we've been talking for, for the last couple of years, isn't it? Just, you know, playing, playing for the match, playing for the situation, playing for the conditions. And I think they've done precisely that in these, in these 2 games. It's, you know, I don't keep— everyone keeps knocking Pakistan, um, you know, and then they're not a very good team at the moment. And you do want to see England now, you know, possibly doing it against stronger opposition. But at the moment they're getting momentum. Ollie Robinson's walking on cloud nine, isn't he? You know, there's lots of good stuff going on. But I do take your point. I think you're right. I think that whether they'd have played like that or not in the previous regime that can't really be answered. The fact is they have done it in his last 2 Test matches, and that's a good thing.

And there was— there's been one minus for England across this series, because let's face it, everybody they've brought in has had a score at some point. Jordan Cox, Dan Lawrence, etc. The bowlers have been splendid. Emilio Gayes had some rough dismissals, but the one minus has been Joe Root and his batting, and he's getting out LBW. You spoke to him. Did you think he felt a bit rattled when you asked the question?

Well, it's one of those questions that you ask of of, you know, someone like, you know, as good as Joe Root. And he's not going to say, oh yeah, I don't know what's going on, uh, you know, I can't get bat on ball. He's not going to say that. You know, he's going to come up with the thousands of runs that he's scored. As he said, I've got so many runs, I'm, you know, 14,000 runs, I'm a decent batsman. And so, yeah, he's not going to allow himself to get negative thoughts about it. However, we've all seen Joe Root, we know how hard he works, and you can bet your life that he'll be doing what he can to try and prevent from— what is it, 9 LBWs in the last 7 Tests?

So it's 7 in his last 9 innings. One of the others was a run out.

I mean, it's a high number which goes entirely against the way that he's played his whole career. So inevitably he's going to get more of it. He's right, the pitches have helped. They have helped, that little bit of nibble and the wicketkeeper standing up. You know, it has been a bowler's summer. But it'll be gnawing away at him a bit, certainly, because we're now talking about it.

Yeah, and I don't quite know what the solution is. We have discussed this on previous podcasts. He's got another Test match to go. If he gets out LBW twice again at Edgbaston, then, you know, are we sort of like really sounding the alarm bell, Michael?

Oh, he'll work it out. I mean, he's, uh, he's always overcome problems, uh, and I'm pretty sure he'll overcome this one. Um, It is an issue because it's happening on a regular basis, but he's had issues in the past that he's managed to come back from. So no question, he'll be fine in time. It'll just be possibly in South Africa where it might not happen as much, you know, the bouncier pitches. They've got quite a pacey attack. I can't think that they've got too many bowlers with the keeper stood up. Maybe they'll bring one in because of that. If I was playing against England, I'd certainly want at least one bowler in my attack that would produce this tactic because I think it's causing A few problems, obviously, within the England batting line. I think the one trepidation that I have, Dan, from obviously the victories— the first 2 victories of this summer, the one at Lord's was a problem and then the one at Headley, there was a problem. Third time lucky for the England team, they've won a game. Just stay in, stay and have a nice quiet one.

You're going to be having a quiet night, aren't you?

Yeah, I'll have a quiet one. I don't want to be picking up the papers tomorrow morning or mid-afternoon on social media and seeing a few clicks. Won a good series, but just have a quiet night.

Now, Ramiz, we started to talk about this, then Bob Razza came and chatted to us. What have Pakistan got to do? They've got a little bit of time off. They've got— because it's not till a week on Wednesday, but it's been so dismal. And they've got 2 bright sparks have come out of this, Mohammad Abbas and Sajid Shaquille. But they're going to have to find a different method, and they have to do it very quickly, aren't they? Or else this could be really horrific. If they lose a third one by a big margin, that's going to be big alarm bells.

So they've got problems on 2 tiers, emotional and technical, right? So first thing that needs to be looked at is social media. Not really need anything in this little gap. Go and practice hard. Just think about the game. Just think about winning. You know, just Get in there with your minds around cricket. And obviously, talk about cricket. That is such an important aspect. I think you've got to have intelligent people around you. Maybe seek help from outside. Get a Michael Vaughan in there, for example, in one of those team meetings, and a betting expert. Or get a bowler there, Stuart Broad, to tell them, you know, where to bowl, how to get it better. Because I remember once, We were having a tough time during the '92 World Cup, and Imran summoned in Viv Richards just before the Australian game, and the idea was to gee us up. So if Viv told us that, look, you can do this, it meant a great deal to the entire camp. And so those kinds of things may just help. Just sink yourself in practice sessions one after the other, and then specialist practice also, like Babar Azam, for example. He knows that he'll be targeted again irrespective of whether it's a dull pitch or a quick pitch. So look after that shorter length. It'll be Joe Fratellucci who'll probably be bowling extra 3-4 overs to him when he's out there. And so he's got to sort it out himself. Play for pride, play for each other, show some guts. Inspired leadership is needed, inspired innings are needed.

Are there any changes as well though? Because I mean, ordinarily in a situation like this you end up They're 2-nil down. There are squad members here. There's the opportunity here to get some experience in English conditions, and there's some youngsters maybe in that squad. Do they, do they run up the flagpole and do the SOS?

Don't think so. I think Imam will not be fit. I don't think he'll, he'll make it for the 3rd Test match. So Salman Aliyaga is your best option. He's played about 30, 40 Test matches. He's got a bit of experience. He's a good slip catcher as well. So use him again and, and Get him cracking. I think it's important that they they sort of gee each other in in such a situation. You can only help yourself. Nobody is coming from from the from the aisles really to sort stuff out for you or the cricket board or the administration. It's you, the players, who need to up the ante.

And there's no bowler on the horizon because it is noticeable, isn't it? When you contrast England's attack with Pakistan's, it feels a bit more toothless.

No, no. I think Ubaid. Shah is also like 80, mid-80s at maximum speed. So I mean, obviously Pakistan handcuffed in that department.

Jonathan, England, they need to make any changes? They'd like to make any changes? They're 2-0 up.

Well, I hope they don't.

You know, sometimes when you're ahead, sometimes you do get that thing at the end of a season.

It's a question of resting players. They're starting to put something together. Let's see that happening. You know, England win 3-0, same team. I don't see what the, what the point is of resting anybody. There's 10 days between the matches. I don't know, maybe that's old school to be like that, but, but I'd just much rather them get to get a team together and, and stick, stick with that team. This is a brilliant attack.

No one like Sonny Baker or Sam Cooke.

Why?

Well, I do it well.

I don't like that. I don't like giving Test caps away. You know, you earn the right to play. And, you know, for these fellas, they've got to get used to bowling together. They're doing it very well so far. Joe Root's got to get used to captaining these— this attack together. It's his first-choice attack. Well, play it.

Well, I mean, look, Australia have been playing Hazelwood, Starc, Cummins, and Lyon as a foursome time and time and time again. Never changed. No. So yeah, the strange thing is they've only just alighted upon this particular menu. if you like, or the ingredients. And there we are already asking questions about whether anybody should be rested. But it does feel that somehow, almost by accident, England have got together 4 very contrasting seam bowlers that could be the blueprint for how they play, not just this last Test this summer, but out in South Africa and when they play Australia next summer.

Yes, I mean, medium pace of high quality, very tall, Ollie, obviously, and difficult to pick. And then you've got pace and then determination, and the batting is clicking as well. So why change when things are working?

I suppose one other area of slight concern would be Emilio Gay.

But he got a massive endorsement from Joe Root there.

He did.

You know, he said that, that third job was worth, was worth 70. So I don't think you can get much more of an endorsement than that, and he got a ball that virtually went underground. So, you know, they've picked him out. They could have picked one or two others, but they've gone for him. He looks the part to me. I mean, I don't know if he's someone who'll play 50 or 60 Tests, I don't know, but it would be wrong to bin him now. I think he should play the next Test and probably start in South Africa and see how he goes, because they do need to see him on harder pitches against faster bowling than he's been facing so far.

Batters have been Australia, all over the world. We've seen it in Australia. I mean, the Sheffield Shield, I don't think anyone's averaging over 37. But it doesn't feel like this can be good for Test cricket ultimately, because, you know, England are playing a lot of their Test matches on these surfaces where, where players aren't getting used to building long innings. Now they're going to come up at some point, England's players, on flatter decks. They exist around the world. And there is— again, I'm sort of trying to find negatives on a day when England have won the series, 2, they're left with one to go. But there is something a little bit unsatisfying about these very low-scoring matches on these very, very challenging pitches. This is— and it's a trend we're seeing in other parts of the world as well, but it's not going to be everywhere. When England play in South Africa, I imagine the pitches will be really quite different.

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a worry in, in poorer techniques, batting techniques, a result of T20 cricket and, and short form. The defensive technique of the modern batsman is nothing like as secure as the Test batsman of 20 years ago. So they're going to get out more cheaply. They're going to get out more quickly than they were. I mean, Ollie Robinson just plugging away, exposing frailties in technique is exactly, exactly what you need. And you're right, it has been a bowler's summer for 2 reasons. A, first of all, the drought and the pitches that result from that. And now, of course, the damp that we've had here. So it has— it's been a difficult summer for the batsmen.

Will you make a strategy to win? So that is paramount. You know, good teams don't worry about individual brilliance. They look at the entire makeup and say, so Pakistan clearly on a green pitch, let's unleash fast bowling, let's unleash Jofra Archer, because we've got to pick up 20 wickets to win the game. So I, I think from that perspective, England have done remarkably well. Yes, it's been tough for some of the newcomers who've been on kind of a trial, but overall I don't have a problem with this because it makes for interesting cricket. B, it tests out newcomers as well, you know, how technically good they are. Temperament is tested. So I mean, if you want to look at it negatively, there are a few positives also. And I think at the end of the day, you win, and that is the most critical part of it. You know, Abbas's 5 wickets on the honors board is not going to work in favor of Pakistan. Yeah, I mean, it can be a good reference point for about 20 minutes in the team meeting, but nothing more than that. If he had won, obviously that 5-4 would have meant a great deal. So I mean, overall strategy, I agree with England— unleash pace, unleash green track. Let's see how Pakistan operate.

Thank you, Rameez. I'm going to let Rameez and Jonathan go now. We're going to go up to Andy Zolzman to get his, uh, his statistical takes on— it feels like this summer is— the statistics are all about short innings and sides being bowled out for next to nothing. What have you got for me today, Andy?

Well, yeah, so picking up on the various themes that you've been, been talking about, this match we saw a wicket every 34.8 deliveries, the 5th lowest ever in a Test at Lord's, but only the 2nd lowest of the 2 Tests this summer. It was every 24.9 balls against New Zealand. This ground has turned into basically Yeah, one of the hardest grounds for batting in the history of, uh, certainly modern Test cricket. Um, and we're seeing some, some 19th century style stats, the early years of cricket when bowlers dominated. Ollie Robinson in this match, 8 for 35 across the 2 innings in 27 overs. That's the 2nd best match figures ever by a player without a fiver in the match. Shane Warne had 8 for 24 against Pakistan in Sharjah. About 25 years ago. Robinson's summer so far, 23 wickets for 192 runs at an average of 8.3 runs per wicket. In each of the— well, his match figures in the 3 games he's played: 7 for 77, 8 for 80, 8 for 35. The 3 best match figures of his, uh, of his career. And a very short list of bowlers who've taken 7 or more in 3 consecutive matches without conceding 100 runs in any of those games. Muralitharan, Ashwin recently, 2 spinners. And then you've got to go back to the 19th century, George Lohmann, and the man we like to talk about, Charles the Terror Turner, is, uh, is on that list as well. So yeah, extraordinary. The last England bowler with, uh, over 20 wickets in a 3-test sequence at an average under 10 was Angus Fraser, and the last to do so at a lower average, 20 wickets plus in 3 matches, was Tony Locke back in the 1950s, and you got to go back to Locke. In 1958, he had 34 wickets at 7.4 for a lower average in an English, uh, English Test summer. And the only other ones below Robinson's current average— obviously that might change after Edgbaston— were in the 1880s. So yeah, we are, we're seeing— I mean, Robinson has exploited these conditions phenomenally, as Nan was talking about. Be really interesting to see how he fares on a, on a, on a different pitch. And it sounds like he's got Got, got planned. So it'll be fascinating to see. But Pakistan have now batted the grand total of 173.5 overs in the series in 4 innings. They narrowly, by 5 balls, avoided becoming only the 3rd team since the 19th century to be bowled out in under 50 overs in 4 consecutive Test innings. But that figure, 173.5 overs after 2 Tests of a series, um, since, uh, South Africa in the 19th century, only 2 2 teams have, uh, have been dismissed more quickly in the first 2 Tests of a series, um, in what now almost 130 years of Test cricket. So it's been disastrous for Pakistan with the bat despite Saeed Shaquille's fine innings today. Hit 2 sixes in 3 balls from Josh Tong, having hit 2 in his entire Test career before that, and only one of them off a pace bowler in almost 4,000 balls, uh, faced. Um, and yeah, just a couple more things. Well, To put it in context, and Pakistan's batting has been disastrous in this, uh, this, uh, this series, but Harry Brook and Joe Root, the current numbers 1 and 2 in the world batting rankings, in the 2 Tests at Lord's this summer, between them made 142 for 8 at an average of 17. And these 2 players with career averages over 50, and that sort of puts in context quite how difficult this ground has been. I'm looking at the seam deviation statistics, just looking at the first 60 overs of innings across games, because none of the innings went long here and you'd expect pitches to flatten out. So try and compare like with like. There's never been a Test in England in the ball tracking era, which goes back over 20 seasons now, uh, with, with more lateral deviation for seam bowlers than we've seen in this Test. And, uh, you know, as a result of that, very little spin. 2 overs from Dan Lawrence in this game, 1 in the previous game. 3 overs of spin by England in the first 2 Tests of the series. Only once in their history have they bowled less spin in the first 2 Tests of a series. That was in West Indies in 1990, and there was not a single over of spin in the first 2 Tests. So yeah, a good win for England, but some very curious and slightly unsettling cricket.

Well, it has been, it has been very curious and unsettling. It's been very entertaining as well, and it's ended with England winning a first series win since November 2024.

The TMS Podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

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