England’s post-Bazball era got off to an encouraging start on a dominant Day 1 of the first Test against Pakistan, with pacers Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue each taking five wickets to rip through the tourists’ batting lineup at Headingley.

After Pakistan collapsed from 117-3 to 171 all out, England made inroads in the evening session Thursday to reach the close on 112-2 and was trailing by just 59 runs.

It could hardly have gone any better for Joe Root, who was beginning his second stint as captain following the retirement of Ben Stokes and was there at stumps on 37 not out alongside Jordan Cox (23 not out) after winning the toss under an overcast sky.

Off the first ball of the three-match series, Robinson pinned Azan Awais with a delivery that nipped back from around the wicket. In his third over, Robinson went over the wicket and trapped Shan Masood (5) trying to drive and Pakistan was 6-2.

Following a two-hour rain delay and a 91-run partnership for the third wicket between Imam-ul-Haq (42) and Abdullah Shafique (61), Robinson and Tongue ran through the Pakistan batters and had figures of 5-51 and 5-46, respectively.

Asked which of the bowlers was keeping the match ball, Tongue revealed after the close of play that it was being shared — literally.

“The groundsman has kindly split the ball in half so I’m sure I’ll be able to get that mounted somewhere at home,” said Tongue, who claimed his fourth five-wicket haul in his 13th Test. “It’s crazy — it’s the first time I’ve seen that happen.”

Robinson’s dramatic return

For Robinson, it was another dramatic return. He was playing his first Test since June at Lord’s, where he took a match-winning 7-77 against New Zealand in his first Test in two years. A knee injury and doubts about his fitness prevented his return in that series that England lost 2-1, leading to the retirement of Stokes and the firing of Brendon McCullum as Test coach.

Pakistan, with just two wins in its last seven Tests and missing captain Babar Azam (finger injury), provided ideal opponents for the start of England’s latest reset and lost its last five wickets for 21 runs in 22 balls.

“They bowled very well, we have to give credit to the England bowlers. They were decent with their length and they were hitting the right spots,” Imam said.

“Obviously we have to work hard now but I always believe that it’s a long game… things change very quickly. Get two wickets and the game’s going to change.”

Root in good form

In England’s reply, Mohammad Abbas trapped Ben Duckett for 15 and Emilio Gay departed for 33, nicking Mohammad Ali to second slip, but Root and Cox settled the home side.

Root, in particular, looked in prime form and has already hit six fours in his 53-ball knock early in his chase for a 42nd Test century.

Pakistan, which hasn’t won a Test series in England since 1996, had Salman Agha deputising as skipper with Babar not recovering from a finger injury.

Dan Lawrence — a batter but also a spin option — was in at No. 6 for England in his first Test in two years.

Robinson makes history with first-ball wicket

According to the BBC, it is the first time a team has taken a wicket off the first ball of a Test series in England, which has been hosting matches since 1880.

It has only previously happened 11 times in the history of Test cricket. Jimmy Anderson was the other English player to do it, when he removed Dean Elgar in a series in South Africa in 2019-20.

The midnight curfew imposed on the England men’s cricket team has been scrapped under newly appointed captain Joe Root.

The restriction was put in place by England managing director Rob Key after controversial late-night incidents on the winter tours of New Zealand and Australia.

Former test captain Ben Stokes was out past the curfew following a match against New Zealand in June, leading to his temporary suspension and then sudden retirement from test cricket — a chain of events that has sparked the return of Root for a second spell as skipper.

The latest new era for English cricket begins next week with a three-match test series against Pakistan, and Root told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “There’s not going to be a curfew.

“I don’t think this needs to be a big deal, to be honest,” he said. “My view on curfews is I don’t think they work, and if you want guys to take responsibility on the field they’ve got to be able to feel they can be grown adults off it and make good strong decisions off it.

“That’s for us as a team to manage well, and self-police well, for me and Flem (Stephen Fleming) to manage well in many ways. But ultimately you’re grown adults, you know what it takes to play for England, you know what your responsibilities are off the field and we need to make sure we don’t find ourselves with any little situations off the field.”

Root wants the team to “create a good strong culture when you know when the right time is to celebrate and enjoy a win or to have a sensible beer or whatever, but remember you’re playing for England.”

England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook can be considered the best embodiment of Brendon McCullum’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach. The Kiwi’s sacking as England’s Test coach has visibly shaken Brook.

“He has played a massive part in my career,” Brook said after the six-wicket defeat to India in the first ODI in Birmingham.

“I have only ever played under him, and he has been awesome for me. The things he did for the Test side when he first came in, and in the last few years, have been phenomenal.”

By McCullum’s own admission, results weren’t good enough, with England having lost seven of its past nine Tests. Brook said it was understandable why McCullum — who is continuing as the ODI and T20I coach — said that he had let the team down.

“There is always that sense of letting the team down. Today [Tuesday] I felt that way after scoring just one run.

“You always feel like that when you know you didn’t play as well as you can. That is part of the game. You are in the results business and you have to win games.”

India’s Washington Sundar is one cricketer who has found similar backing from his coach Gautam Gambhir.

Washington, who is now an all-format cricketer, scored an unbeaten 52 off 63 balls in the first ODI versus England and was involved in a match-winning 102-run partnership with Axar Patel.

“Gauti bhai always made me understand what exactly I could do with the bat and in my game. Even Ashish Nehra at GT [Gujarat Titans] has helped me understand myself a lot as a person and a cricketer.

“The fact that I play different roles is exciting. Not many people get to do that. I try my best to help the team, and it is exciting to be in different situations and different phases of the game”.

It is one of cricket’s ironies that players welcome captaincy despite knowing that the chances of escaping its psychological and physical damage are low. Great captains are often those who hide their trauma well. Even those who enjoy the job and have a profound effect on the game reach a point when the ‘honour’ doesn’t matter any more.

England captain Ben Stokes torching “the church that he built,” in the memorable words of cricket writer Vithushan Ehantharajah, was a reminder of what captaincy can do to players, even the best ones.

“I was so scarred and devastated by the experience,” admitted Sachin Tendulkar (who led in 25 Tests), “that I even wondered whether I should walk away from cricket.” This, from the man with over 15,000 Test runs and 51 centuries. Captains tend to grey prematurely and lose hair steadily. Anxiety is a constant companion. They make their decisions before an event but are judged only after the consequences become clear. Win or lose, it is difficult to be fully effective beyond a few series.

Michael Atherton, who led England in 54 Tests felt that “four years is about the limit. It is a job that takes its toll.”

Man of many parts

A captain, wrote Doug Insole, former England player and selector, is a public relations officer, agricultural consultant, psychiatrist, accountant, nursemaid, diplomat. Ray Illingworth in his book Captaincy added to that with: “He needs to have the patience of a saint, the compassion of a social worker, and the skin of a rhino…”

Despite the presence of the coaching staff, the captain has an unnatural burden on his shoulders. The reaction to Stokes’s post-victory celebration was extreme (he was dropped for a Test in the New Zealand series despite lack of clarity on whether the midnight curfew remained in place after a match was over). Stokes’ nose-thumbing or middle-finger wagging or whatever it was that caused him to open the batting and go on a suicide mission was extreme too. England cricket is in that familiar place now — a mess.

If there was one man who raised it to great heights recently, it was Stokes. If there is one who is the symbol of everything wrong with it now, it is Stokes. A great all rounder and inspiring captain jumped before he was pushed — other captains haven’t been so lucky.

One of India’s finest, Srinivas Venkatraghavan had the mortification of hearing of his sacking from the pilot on the PA system of the aircraft carrying the team back to India after a tour of England. Australia’s Kim Hughes bid a tearful farewell after yet another defeat against the West Indies.

After England’s defeat to India at Lord’s in ’86, skipper David Gower was at the post-match interview while in the dressing room chief selector Peter May was offering the captaincy to Mike Gatting. Gower was the last to know. “You will have the worst time of your life,” former England captain Brian Close told a successor, Ian Botham about captaincy.

The captain is the focal point of the pressure on a team, and feels the heat the most. In Stokes’ case, there was the added strain of ‘Bazball’, a wonderful system of play when things were going well but without a fall-back position when things were going badly. It was exciting while it lasted, but when it unravelled in Australia, Stokes and his men losing the Ashes series 1-4, the sharpened knives could be seen glinting. Victory is the only justification for any system, even the ones difficult to understand or accept.

Perhaps Virat Kohli was speaking for the majority when he explained why he gave up captaincy: “I was completely spent. I was consumed by it. It was gruesome.” Interesting choice of words, but the message is clear. As the great Mike Brearley pointed out in his classic, The Art of Captaincy, “We receive repeated intimations of our own fallibility.” It helped that skipper Brearley was a philosopher, psychoanalyst and author, but he is unique.

Captains have to absorb the pressure so the rest of the team can play freely. Stokes removed the fear of failure from the players, and backed them for fitting in. But in the end he was overwhelmed. A cautionary tale? Perhaps, but was it worth it?

It is one of cricket’s ironies that players welcome captaincy despite knowing that the chances of escaping its psychological and physical damage are low. Great captains are often those who hide their trauma well. Even those who enjoy the job and have a profound effect on the game reach a point when the ‘honour’ doesn’t matter any more.

England captain Ben Stokes torching “the church that he built,” in the memorable words of cricket writer Vithushan Ehantharajah, was a reminder of what captaincy can do to players, even the best ones.

“I was so scarred and devastated by the experience,” admitted Sachin Tendulkar (who led in 25 Tests), “that I even wondered whether I should walk away from cricket.” This, from the man with over 15,000 Test runs and 51 centuries. Captains tend to grey prematurely and lose hair steadily. Anxiety is a constant companion. They make their decisions before an event but are judged only after the consequences become clear. Win or lose, it is difficult to be fully effective beyond a few series.

Michael Atherton, who led England in 54 Tests felt that “four years is about the limit. It is a job that takes its toll.”

Man of many parts

A captain, wrote Doug Insole, former England player and selector, is a public relations officer, agricultural consultant, psychiatrist, accountant, nursemaid, diplomat. Ray Illingworth in his book Captaincy added to that with: “He needs to have the patience of a saint, the compassion of a social worker, and the skin of a rhino…”

Despite the presence of the coaching staff, the captain has an unnatural burden on his shoulders. The reaction to Stokes’s post-victory celebration was extreme (he was dropped for a Test in the New Zealand series despite lack of clarity on whether the midnight curfew remained in place after a match was over). Stokes’ nose-thumbing or middle-finger wagging or whatever it was that caused him to open the batting and go on a suicide mission was extreme too. England cricket is in that familiar place now — a mess.

If there was one man who raised it to great heights recently, it was Stokes. If there is one who is the symbol of everything wrong with it now, it is Stokes. A great all rounder and inspiring captain jumped before he was pushed — other captains haven’t been so lucky.

One of India’s finest, Srinivas Venkatraghavan had the mortification of hearing of his sacking from the pilot on the PA system of the aircraft carrying the team back to India after a tour of England. Australia’s Kim Hughes bid a tearful farewell after yet another defeat against the West Indies.

After England’s defeat to India at Lord’s in ’86, skipper David Gower was at the post-match interview while in the dressing room chief selector Peter May was offering the captaincy to Mike Gatting. Gower was the last to know. “You will have the worst time of your life,” former England captain Brian Close told a successor, Ian Botham about captaincy.

The captain is the focal point of the pressure on a team, and feels the heat the most. In Stokes’ case, there was the added strain of ‘Bazball’, a wonderful system of play when things were going well but without a fall-back position when things were going badly. It was exciting while it lasted, but when it unravelled in Australia, Stokes and his men losing the Ashes series 1-4, the sharpened knives could be seen glinting. Victory is the only justification for any system, even the ones difficult to understand or accept.

Perhaps Virat Kohli was speaking for the majority when he explained why he gave up captaincy: “I was completely spent. I was consumed by it. It was gruesome.” Interesting choice of words, but the message is clear. As the great Mike Brearley pointed out in his classic, The Art of Captaincy, “We receive repeated intimations of our own fallibility.” It helped that skipper Brearley was a philosopher, psychoanalyst and author, but he is unique.

Captains have to absorb the pressure so the rest of the team can play freely. Stokes removed the fear of failure from the players, and backed them for fitting in. But in the end he was overwhelmed. A cautionary tale? Perhaps, but was it worth it?

Ben Stokes’ hopes ‌of a winning send-off in his final international appearance were hanging by a ​thread in the third test with New Zealand on the brink of ⁠a series victory over England at the close on the fourth day at Trent Bridge on Sunday (June 28, 2026).

The hosts ended on 103-4, still needing 270 runs to secure a 2-1 victory in the series after New ‌Zealand declared their second innings on 288-9.

On the ground where Bazball was born four years ago with England chasing down 299 to beat New Zealand in ‌50 overs, the curtain will come down on the Stokes captaincy era at the ‌end ⁠of the match.

Led by Stokes, England blazed away in similar fashion in a ⁠breathless evening session but the loss of four wickets means New Zealand are in a dominant position heading into the fifth and final day.

“We’re slightly disappointed we find ourselves four down but we managed to make a big ​dent in it with the new ‌ball and make it easier for ourselves tomorrow,” said Joe Root, who is still unbeaten on nine.

“We’re still very much in the game and have taken a bit of the danger out.

“If we could finish with a series win, that would be the perfect ‌send-off for Ben.”

Stokes opens batting

Stokes announced his retirement during a lengthy afternoon spell with ​the ball and promoted himself to opener to launch a dizzying pursuit of a victory target of 373.

He hit Zak Foulkes over his head ⁠and into the stands off the 11th ball of the innings — the earliest any England player has hit a six in a test.

There was another six in the fourth over off Nathan ‌Smith before Stokes holed out to mid-wicket off Foulkes, for 30 off 20 balls, departing to a standing ovation.

Jacob Bethell went four balls later for a duck and Harry Brook, the favourite to succeed Stokes as test captain, followed for 21 from nine balls after hitting his first ball for six, giving concussion substitute Foulkes his third wicket.

The loss of Ben Duckett to Ben Sears in the penultimate over left England 103-4 after 15 wild overs.

New Zealand’s Daryl ‌Mitchell made a courageous 100 not out off 241 balls, overcoming a series of blows to the head, ​forearm and hands to complete his sixth test century. He struck ten fours and one six in a stay of almost seven hours.

Sears retired hurt ⁠with a finger injury but returned to the crease at the fall of the ninth wicket to ⁠help Mitchell reach his landmark.

He had earlier shared in a crucial fourth-wicket partnership of 129 with Rachin Ravindra who made 94.

“We knew we had to tick it ‌over and absorb and the fruits would come and Daryl, especially, showed that in the end,” said Ravindra.

“They came out with serious intent, but the boys bowled brilliantly. To ​have four wickets at the close is something we would have taken for sure.”