Pakistan’s new-look team was unable to shake off old problems as it was bowled out for a paltry 133 on Wednesday (September 9, 2026) after being put into bat by England in the third and final cricket Test at Edgbaston, before Emilio Gay and Harry Brook carried the hosts further into the ascendancy.

Josh Tongue claimed 4-42 while Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer shared six wickets as Pakistan’s shake-up since going 2-0 down in the three-match series had minimal impact.

Gay and Brook then made fifties to lift England to 156-4 at stumps on day one, leading by 23 despite captain Joe Root being out lbw for the 10th time in 13 innings.

Robinson conceded just 15 runs in 11 overs, as he went from 99 to 102 Test wickets, while his average of 19.1 is the best post-war of any bowler with more than 100 dismissals.

England claimed a first breakthrough when the recalled Saim Ayub was trapped lbw for a duck to give quick bowler Robinson his 100th Test wicket.

Jofra Archer then forced Azan Awais into offering mid-on fielder Josh Tongue a low, diving catch off a leading edge.

Abdullah Shafique was next to go, caught low down by Dan Lawrence at third slip off Robinson.

Shan Masood became the fourth wicket to fall when he lobbed the ball to mid-wicket off fast bowler Archer following a poor cross-bat stroke.

Fellow paceman Tongue then removed Pakistan captain Babar Azam before dismissing debutants Ghazi Ghori and Imran Randhawa, lbw and clean bowled respectively, before lunch.

Razaullah Khan, another debutant, fell for 11 in the afternoon session. Saud Shakeel, who made a fighting 97 in a losing cause at Lord’s, was the one shining light for Pakistan as he top-scored with 43 before being clean bowled by a sharp inswinging delivery from Tongue.

Archer took the final wicket when he had Mohammad Abbas caught in the slips for 21 to finish with figures of 3-25. Robinson picked up 3-15 in a miserly 11-over stint and Tongue 4-42.

Then, in England’s first-innings reply, Ben Duckett was removed by Mohammad Ali for 11 before Jordan Cox fell to Abbas for 4.

England took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after beating Pakistan by 194 runs at Lord’s.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam admitted he was blindsided by the decision to tear up his squad ahead of this week’s final cricket Test against England, saying the drastic cull was “news to me.”

Babar learned of the wholesale changes only after an official statement by the Pakistan Cricket Board, he said on Tuesday, the day before the third Test at Edgbaston.

“It was news to me,” Babar said in Urdu. “I found out after.

“The PCB decided it, so they will be able to explain it better. The PCB’s decision must have been taken after some thought process. It’s better if you ask them why.”

Heavy defeats at Leeds and Lord’s were met with sweeping changes by the PCB, who sent seven players home and removed head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his assistant Umar Gul.

The replacements summoned included five with no Test experience, while white-ball coach Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke were drafted to take charge at Edgbaston.

Babar framed the remarkable overhaul as a fresh chance for the players “to showcase their talent.” None of the Pakistan squad, including Babar, has played a test at Edgbaston.

“The series is lost but we have nothing to lose,” he added. “We should play freely and believe in ourselves as a team.” He missed the innings loss at Headingley because of a finger injury and made only 8 and 6 at Lord’, where Pakistan lost by 194 runs. He said the senior players have to lead the way.

“I firmly believe you need to grab opportunities and perform in difficult conditions,” Babar said. “That’s why we play cricket, because we have to perform and dominate in difficult conditions. We need to forget about past failures and shift focus to the future.”

‘Disrespectful’: Root, on comments on Pakistan’s team

England captain Joe Root considered it “disrespectful” to say Pakistan has showed a lack of fight on tour.

“We’ve found Pakistan a challenge,” Root said. “I think that’s a bit disrespectful to both Pakistan as a team and to us as a team.

“I don’t think we’ve allowed them to get into games because of how well we’ve played and how quickly we’ve read the situations and the surfaces that we’ve had.

“I think it’s very easy to say one team is excellent and one team is poor. Normally it’s somewhere in the middle. If one team has been outstanding, then the other team can’t have been poor and vice versa.” Root’s return to the captaincy has gone well but he has had a lean run with the bat this summer, averaging 29.44 in five Tests, although pitches have been overwhelmingly in favour of seam bowlers.

Root has been LBW nine times in his past seven Tests and struggled with the wicketkeeper standing up to the stumps, but he says he enjoys the challenge of trying to get back into form.

“You’re always looking to find ways of improving, and there’s always going to be something to contend with,” he said. “I’ve found it quite tricky but I always think that’s the fun bit. You shouldn’t be worried about what could go wrong. It should be, This is a chance to go and do something special and win a game for your country.’”

In an unusual move, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday (August 31, 2026) decided to send seven members of its touring Test squad home and replace them with a fresh set of players ahead of the third and final match against England.

Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad have all been released from the squad, the PCB announced.

The Board also released head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul, replacing them with Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke, respectively.

The sweeping changes come after Pakistan suffered heavy defeats in the first two Tests at Leeds and Lord’s. The third and final Test is scheduled to begin on September 9.

The seven replacements are Saim Ayub, Abdullah Fazal, Arafat Minhas, Saad Baig, Muhammad Randhawa, Razaullah and Muhammad Imran Jnr.

Of the seven, five have played international cricket, while two — Muhammad Randhawa and Razaullah — are yet to represent Pakistan at any level.

Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal have played eight and two Tests respectively, while left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Arafat Minhas has represented Pakistan in three ODIs and four T20Is.

The other four players include left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Imran Jnr, wicketkeeper-batter Saad Baig, who was the Player of the Tournament in the 2025-26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and right-arm pace-bowling all-rounders Mohammad Imran, also known as Imran Randhawa, and Razaullah.

The players will join the Pakistan squad ahead of the third Test in Birmingham.

Updated Pakistan Test squad

Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Imran, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Razaullah, Saad Baig (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah. PTI Cor AH

Jamie Smith and Jordan Cox both scored fifties as England recovered from a top-order collapse against Pakistan to reach 248-9 when bad light ended Thursday’s (August 27, 2026) opening day of the second Test at Lord’s.

Veteran paceman Mohammad Abbas took three wickets for four runs in 16 balls, including the prize scalp of England captain Joe Root for four, as the hosts slumped to 36-3, after Pakistan won the toss in helpful conditions for seam bowling.

But Smith’s 61 and 55 from number three Cox — his second fifty in successive Test innings — got England back into the game.

Abbas had fine figures of 4-56 in 15 overs and fellow seamer Mohammad Ali 3-67 in 17 when the umpires ruled it was unsafe to continue despite the floodlights illuminating the ground.

“I think it is a decent enough day for us,” Smith told Sky Sports after the close. “The ball was doing enough, nipping around — overhead conditions obviously assisted.

“Pakistan bowled nicely and showed that when you take wickets with the new ball you can start to put teams under a bit more pressure.”

Pakistan were woeful in all departments during an innings and 103-run defeat in the first of a three-Test series at Headingley last week.

They did, however, have the worst of the conditions after losing the toss before being dismissed for meagre totals of 171 and 135.

Fine catch

It was a different story in London, with Pakistan captain Babar Azam opting to field on a green-tinged pitch under grey skies following a rain delay.

Azam was the only change to either side, as he returned from a finger injury in place of stand-in skipper Salman Ali Agha.

England had dropped fast bowler Brydon Carse, who did not play in the first Test, from their squad after another late-night drinking incident.

Abbas, who has had stints with several English counties, was soon into his stride on a ground where he was named player of the match after taking eight wickets in Pakistan’s victory in their last Test at Lord’s in 2018.

The 36-year-old was fortunate, however, when Emilio Gay glanced a legside ball only for diving wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan to hold an excellent one-handed catch.

Ben Duckett fell for 17 when lbw to an Abbas nip-backer.

Medium-pace bowling with the ‘keeper standing up to the stumps has plagued England in recent times and Rizwan was up to the wicket when Abbas pinned Root on the back leg.

Harry Brook was then bowled for 15 by a superb Ali delivery that jagged back, with England 80-4 at lunch.

Dan Lawrence had made 10 when he flicked to midwicket only for Shan Masood to drop a seemingly routine catch.

Pakistan’s fielding was poor as they tumbled to the bottom of the World Test Championship table with defeat in Leeds.

But when Lawrence turned spinner Ali Usman legside and set off for a non-existent single, only to be sent back by Cox, he was run out by Masood’s accurate throw from mid-wicket to Rizwan.

Cox struck consecutive legside boundaries off Usman to complete an 88-ball fifty including seven fours.

His partnership of 67 with Smith ended when substitute fielder Agha held a superb catch at second slip off Khurram Shahzad.

Smith, whose fifty came from a mere 63 balls, was clean bowled by Ali and two balls later the paceman dismissed tailender Ollie Robinson with another nip-backer.

Jofra Archer straight-drove Abbas for six before the bowler had his revenge, with Gus Atkinson — who has a Test century at Lord’s to his credit — a useful 34 not out at stumps.

Joe Root expressed his frustration that a winning return as England Test captain has been overshadowed by another off-field incident that saw Brydon Carse dropped for the second Test against Pakistan.

Carse has been referred to the Cricket Regulator after videos on social media appeared to show the fast bowler being led away by police in handcuffs following an incident at a nightclub in Derby on Saturday (August 22, 2026).

It is the latest in a series of alcohol-fuelled controversies that have dogged England since a disastrous tour of New Zealand and Australia at the end of last year.

White-ball captain Harry Brook was involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer in Wellington and videos circulated of opener Ben Duckett appearing drunk on a night out during the 4-1 Ashes series thrashing by Australia.

In June, former captain Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were given a written warning and stood down from the second Test against New Zealand after an incident at a London nightclub which came after they broke a curfew.

Stokes announced his shock retirement from international cricket during the third Test a few days later, paving the way for Root to return for a second spell as red-ball captain.

England thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 103 runs inside three days of his first match back in charge last week.

“If I’m being brutally honest, I’m really hacked off. I’m really disappointed that, after last week’s performance, we’re sat here and we’re talking about something that is not related to it at all,” Root told a press conference on Tuesday (August 25, 2026).

“It’s not the isolated incident itself, it’s the fact we continuously keep making stupid mistakes away from the game and it’s detracting from what we are doing on the field.”

A curfew on players going out was introduced in January following the troubled tour to Down Under.

Bigger than curfews

However, Root has said he will not impose a curfew as he does not believe it is a productive way to change the culture around the England squad.

“I still don’t believe that’s the way to go. It’s important we create something bigger than that, it’s about having something long lasting that we can be proud of,” added the 35-year-old.

“Clearly we are not portraying ourselves how we want to and I think we have an opportunity to build a culture that is very strong, that we can be proud of, that is player driven and of course that isn’t going to happen overnight.

“We have already had conversations as a team on what is expected from this group of players, what it means to play for England, what it takes to play for England.

“We want to create something that we can be proud of, that people who follow us can be proud of.”

Carse was not selected for the first Test and has been withdrawn from the squad for the second Test, which begins at Lord’s on Thursday (August 27, 2026).

Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes an example has to be made to draw a line in the sand and improve off-field behaviour going forward.

“Someone is going to have to get a punishment that sends a shiver down the whole England cricket team and right down through the programme, so that everyone knows that if you misbehave or bring any kind of bad reputation onto this team, you know what’s going to come,” Vaughan told the BBC.

“It’s the only punishment that will really hurt players.”

England will aim to put their latest drinking drama behind them when they face Pakistan in the second Test at Lord’s starting on Thursday (August 27, 2026).

The hosts ought to be in an utterly buoyant mood after returning captain Joe Root oversaw an innings and 103-run thrashing of Pakistan inside three days at his Headingley homeground last week.

But rather than speak about England’s progress, Root spent much of a pre-match press conference talking about Brydon Carse, dropped from the squad and now under investigation by the Cricket Regulator after videos on social media showed the fast bowler being led away by police in handcuffs following an incident at a Derby nightclub on Saturday (August 22, 2026).

This is the latest in a series of alcohol-fuelled controversies that have dogged England since a disastrous 2025/26 tour of New Zealand and Australia.

Both former captain Ben Stokes — who has since retired from all international cricket — and paceman Gus Atkinson were stood down in June from the second Test at home to New Zealand following an incident at a London bar which came after they broke a curfew policy that has now been ditched by Root.

Carse did not feature at Headingley, and was unlikely to play at Lord’s barring injury, but his conduct led a frustrated Root to say Tuesday: “If I’m being brutally honest, I’m really hacked off…It’s not the isolated incident itself, it’s the fact we continuously keep making stupid mistakes away from the game and it’s detracting from what we are doing on the field.”

England, with seamers Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue taking eight wickets apiece, skittled out Pakistan for just 171 and 135 in the first Test while posting 409 themselves, even though none of their four batsmen who reached fifty, a quartet including Root, went on to a century.

Nevertheless, it was a professional display lacking the self-indulgent extravagances that characterised England’s cricket in the closing stages of the Bazball era under Stokes and Brendon McCullum, sacked as Test coach following the series loss to New Zealand.

Pakistan ‘hopeful’ over Babar Azam

By contrast, Pakistan were deficient in all departments with their inadequate batting compounded by an inaccurate and largely unthreatening pace attack as well as embarrassingly shoddy fielding.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam, however, could return at Lord’s from a finger injury initially sustained during the tour of the West Indies and later exacerbated when he was hit on the hand during a warm-up game at Beckenham.

“We’re hopeful he will be available for the game and today (Tuesday) he was looking good; he batted well in the nets,” said Pakistan bowling coach Umar Gul. “He had a full batting session.”

Azam was Pakistan’s top run-scorer in the West Indies, with 193 runs during a drawn two-Test series.

He has also enjoyed success in England, with three fifties in six innings while averaging 65.75.

Azan Awais may make way if Azam returns at number four, with one of Shan Masood or Abdullah Shafique moving up the order to open.

Pakistan, who only a decade ago were Test cricket’s top-ranked side, have won their last two Tests at Lord’s, with Azam making 68 during a nine-wicket rout of England in 2018.

But even though Pakistan have a longstanding reputation for veering between astonishing highs and lows, a vast improvement will be required if they are to level this three-match series.

“We’ll have to learn from the mistakes we made in the previous game,” said Gul. “If you want to win a Test match, you have to perform in all departments. One can’t be carrying the other.”

Meanwhile, with England having won just three of their last 11 Tests, a wary Root said: “We know the individual brilliance that lies within that team and what Pakistan are capable of collectively.

“We also know that whenever we play anyone at Lord’s, they generally raise their game. This (England) group won’t be taking anything for granted.”

England’s Harry Brook extended his remarkable record against Pakistan to put the hosts into ​a commanding position on the second day of the first test at Headingley.

Brook cashed in on ‌some indisciplined bowling from a lightweight seam attack to make 91 from ​93 balls as England opened a 195-run lead with two first ⁠innings wickets still standing.

It took the Yorkshireman’s average in his 12 test appearances against Pakistan above 85.

Dropped on one at second slip by Salman Ali Agha off Khurram Shahzad, Brook illuminated a grey, ‌rain-shortened day for his home crowd with an innings containing 13 fours before falling to spinner Ali Usman who finished with 5-92.

Brook shared a ‌fifth-wicket partnership of 120 with the recalled Dan Lawrence who made 51 from ‌79 ⁠balls.

Lawrence, back after two years in the wilderness, filled the boots of ⁠Ben Stokes after his retirement in positive fashion, before top-edging a sweep off Usman.

The pair made the most of the base laid earlier by Joe Root and Jordan Cox.

Root made 66 – his 109th test innings ​of 50 or more – and Cox ‌73 – the first of his career – in a stand of 150 for the third wicket.

It was a surprise when Root played across a straight ball from Khurram Shahzad to be trapped lbw, four balls after Cox departed after misjudging the length ‌of a full ball from Usman to be caught behind.

Cox, given his ​chance at No 3 by Jacob Bethell’s knee injury, hit Khurram for seven fours in the space of 12 balls on the way ⁠to a maiden test half-century.

England, who were helped by some poor ground fielding from Pakistan, closed on 366-8 after Usman dismissed Gus Atkinson and Ollie Robinson with successive balls in ‌the 80th over.

Even though England now have caretaker coach Marcus Trescothick in charge after the exit of Brendon McCullum from the red ball side, the run rate was up with there with the Bazball era.

“Headingley is one of quickest-scoring grounds in the country and Tres has been really good with us,” said Cox.

“He has told everyone: ‘bat your way, bat how you want to and enjoy it’ and that’s what we’ve done.

“Hopefully the ‌boys can get 50 runs tomorrow – we’ve still got Jamie Smith and Jofra Archer in there ​who can give it a good whack – and then get to our work.”

Pakistan, who last won a test in England eight years ago, are ⁠in a tight corner. With better weather forecast for the remaining three days, they look unlikely ⁠to receive much assistance from the elements in their efforts to get out of it.

“England have the upper hand but we will try to score ‌as many runs as we can second innings,” said Usman.

“We have to get the two wickets as soon as possible and then try to score runs as ​a batting unit. Hopefully our batters can make a comeback and save the test match.”

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.