As the floodlights illuminated a hazy, smoggy final session in Multan, Pakistan’s spinners grabbed hold of the second Test in 15 minutes of mayhem.
The wickets of centurion Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes, a run of four for 14 in 18 balls, turned this Test Pakistan’s way as their weight of spin bowling and a tired, re-used pitch in its seventh day of life told.
Just six of the 47 overs in the England innings were bowled by Pakistan’s lone seamer, and Aamer Jamal may as well go sightseeing, as off spinner Sajid Khan took four for 86, celebrating each of his wickets with a fast bowler’s snarl and theatrical punches of the air.
From 211 for two when Root dragged on a sweep shot, England ended the day 239 for six, still 127 short of Pakistan’s first-innings 366. With the pitch turning more, batting last is going to be a guessing game. “It does not feel like a pitch where you can sit on the fence. There is a ball with your name on it,” said Duckett. “I can’t see it staying the same. It will continue to get worse. The game will move on quickly.”
Pakistan can sniff a 1-1 scoreline going to Rawalpindi and justification for their selection and pitch gambles. Their captain Shan Masood may have a strong claim for man of the match for winning the toss.
Duckett’s 114, the fourth Test hundred of his career, ended a run of dismissals in the 80s that had left him without a century since Rajkot in February and in danger of wasting a prime year in his career. He turns 30 on Thursday and is a Bazball regular, averaging 46 in the Brendon McCullum era and is a walking, talking exponent of their methods. “I’ve felt in good form for the past year, and sat there and spoken about wanting to score hundreds, nice to get over the line,“ he said.
With so many missed chances for a hundred this year, he knew he had to cash in on Pakistan’s flat pitches that suit him perfectly. He managed it here but almost looked relieved, rather than overjoyed, when he reached his hundred, brought up with a typically lusty sweep. And no wonder because batting by then had become much harder.
This was Duckett’s slowest Test hundred, from 120 balls, and he spent 22 deliveries in the 90s – an age for a run-a-ball merchant like him – as Sajid and left-armer Noman Ali bowled accurately and upped their pace a touch as the ball softened to make the most of turn off the cracks.
Duckett once said he had 10 different sweep shots and he brought out the full monty, scoring 52 of his hundred with the shot, the most for a century in the ball-tracking era. He made a better than a run-a-ball fifty and coasted with Zak Crawley in a 73-run opening stand as the new ball proved the easiest time to bat, but the warning signs were there. Crawley could have been out twice before he edged a drive behind. Ollie Pope was bowled by an off break that turned through the gate but Duckett and Root settled into a third-wicket stand that felt pivotal.
They batted at a good rate, as usual, England going along at five an over until the collapse. With a bit more bounce out of the rough and off the cracks, and 4.79 degrees of turn in the evening, more than a degree more than with the new ball, the sweep became harder to control.
Duckett scored 34 of his first fifty with the shot, but his touch deserted as the hundred neared. He missed a hard reverse on 99 that he almost edged to slip and failed to connect with a forward defensive two balls later that just missed off stump and went for four byes.
The shot to bring up his hundred was nailed out of the middle but it was about the last one England connected with properly. The jitters now set in. Root was bowled off the under edge and a deflection off his boot playing a sweep and the collapse was on.
Duckett nicked a full ball out of the rough from Sajid to slip and five deliveries later Brook played a poor shot, going back to Sajid to be bowled trying to play with the spin to the leg side. Stokes’s record in the sub-continent – an average of 27 – and nine weeks of rustiness hardly inspired confidence coming in against the turning ball and he did not last long, caught at short leg off Noman.
England felt they had done a good job, taking five for 107 on day two to limit Pakistan but a ninth-wicket stand of 49 between Jamal and Noman was frustrating. Across their innings, Pakistan batted for time, eating up 123.3 overs. It happened for two reasons. Firstly, to give the pitch time to wear and secondly because England bowled so tightly that run-scoring was hard.
The seamers were outstanding in stultifying conditions. Brydon Carse and Matt Potts put in a shift with the ball, the seamers taking five for 136, proving they are learning quickly about how to bowl in Asian conditions, and belying a lack of experience. They need to do so again. If England can get close to parity with the bat they have a chance and then need to hope Pakistan’s self-doubt takes hold again.
Smith already keeping as well as Foakes
Joe Root was, if not paralysed, then reduced to a standstill. It was like the World Cup final of 2019 at Lord’s when he could not get the ball off the square.
The Old Trafford pitch, for the first Test of the Sri Lanka series in August, suited the tourists down to the abrasive ground. Their fine left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya held one end, while their low-slung pacers reversed it from the James Anderson end. England, instead of knocking off 205 with their usual elan, were faltering in pursuit of this target.
Harry Brook contributed one of his numerous pretty 30s that characterised his last summer, before captaincy of England’s white-ball side – and even in the Hundred – spurred his maturity. That still left England, shorn of Ben Stokes and momentum, in a predicament of 119 for four, with only their novice keeper Jamie Smith and the bowlers to partner the stationary Root.
Smith, however, was the answer. He immediately got England’s run-chase flowing again. Like Stokes he might not have an academic brain but he is an astute problem-solver. His solution was to start rotating the strike by shuffling down the pitch to play the reverse-swingers, with the inside of his bat if needs be, to the only place in front of the wicket where there was a single to be had – to the vacant square-leg. Smith’s 39 off 48 balls liberated Root – his senior by 140 Tests – and followed his first innings of 111, which made him player of the match.
Smith has brought the same qualities of easy-going temperament, extreme talent and problem-solving ability to the unique challenge of wicketkeeping in Pakistan. Unique because nowhere does the ball keep lower than on those grassless pitches, and therefore nowhere does the keeper have to stand closer to the stumps while supposedly “standing back” to pace bowlers.
Confidence too. Smith’s batting fitted into Test cricket like a glove from the moment of his debut at Lord’s against West Indies in July; and he has grown into his role as a keeper, a self-confident one. For although he has been Surrey’s second-choice keeper, it is understood that he turned down the offer of some wicketkeeping practice on the outfield at Lord’s before West Indies went into their first innings. He was ready to go straight out there.
Hard, nervous hands would surely not have held on to the chances which flew Smith’s way on day two in Multan. Standing a couple of yards closer than he would have done in England – where he likes to catch the ball at waist-height – he had to take one catch off a right-handed batsman and another off a left-hander (one each off Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts) when the ball had almost flown past him, so reduced was the reaction time.
In this series Smith has made a mistake but it was exhausted, rather than hard and nervous, hands which missed the stumping chance offered by Pakistan’s flailing last man, Abrar Ahmed, in the first Test. The rule of thumb for England keepers, or the norm, is to average one straightforward error per Test series, more theoretical ones aside.
One of the solutions that Smith has come up with, when keeping to pace bowlers, is to stand with his chest directed towards mid-off; his left foot is therefore in front of his right foot. He is not the first England wicketkeeper to assume this stance when standing back: Jack Russell of Gloucestershire did so, and before him Bob Taylor of Derbyshire. Taylor had a slight blemish or deficiency in his right eye, and worked out this stance to compensate for it, but the principle still applies: from such a position it is easier to get the head and eyes in line with the ball outside off-stump, which is where the vast majority of balls in Test cricket are aimed.
Before he came into the England side, Smith used to keep like his predecessor Ben Foakes on a bad day. Now he is starting to keep like Foakes full stop. His speedy adapting to Pakistan’s low bounce augurs well for his adapting to high bounce in Australia. In the Ashes in a year’s time we shall see which country has the better Smith.
01:46 PM BST
The thoughts of Michael Atherton
01:40 PM BST
Sajid Khan – England’s nemesis
01:39 PM BST
A dramatic end to play
You’d have to say that Pakistan have taken control of this Test match with that final session. In the space of 14 minutes, the hosts removed Joe Root, England’s centurion Ben Duckett, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes. With that they have exposed the England tail, with whom Jamie Smith will have to bat to bridge the 127-run gap that still exists between the two sides. Cracking Test match and a cracking test for this England team.
01:31 PM BST
CLOSE OF PLAY: ENG 239/6 (Carse 2 Smith 12)
Into what is likely the last over of the day and Carse is going to have see off five balls from Zahid, the leg-spinner. The googly is the ball to watch here…will Carse be able to pick it. Three straight leg breaks from Zahid before one just holds its line.
England survive…that’s the close.
01:28 PM BST
OVER 52: ENG 238/6 (Carse 2 Smith 11)
Sajid is finding a lovely bit of dip on his leg breaks. He gets Carse to push hard at that dips quickly and nearly sneaks through the gap between bat and pad. Well played to the England batters again as they stand firm.
01:25 PM BST
OVER 51: ENG 238/6 (Carse 2 Smith 11)
Smith does well to play a delivery from Noman that is well-placed and turns sharply. He hangs the bat out at one without a huge amount of conviction before playing a steady forward defence to end the over.
01:22 PM BST
OVER 50: ENG 238/6 (Carse 2 Smith 11)
Loose from Sajid and Smith gives it the full treatment, smashing it for four through the covers. Good to see he’s still comfortable enough to cash in on scoring chances even under this kind of pressure.
01:19 PM BST
OVER 49: ENG 232/6 (Carse 1 Smith 6)
Noman has bowled noticeably slower in this session and with that we’ve seen far more spin. This is a ploy that has really worked for Pakistan and left England reeling. Smith plays one loose shot in the over but otherwise is watchful.
01:16 PM BST
OVER 48: ENG 228/6 (Carse 1 Smith 2)
This is new territory for Jamie Smith, who has had virtually carte blanche to attack with the bat at every point he has seen the middle in his Test career to date. This is different now. England cannot afford to lose him before the close and leave their tail exposed to this Pakistan attack tomorrow morning.
01:13 PM BST
OVER 47: ENG 226/6 (Carse 0 Smith 1)
Noman is bowling a lovely line around the wicket to Smith. It’s just begging for one to rip away from England’s young wicket-keeper. Smith gets fortunate as a leading edge drops safe before he’s beaten by one that turns sharply.
01:10 PM BST
OVER 46: ENG 226/6 (Carse 0 Smith 1)
Sajid gives the ball move flight to Smith who plays a nice drive only for the man at mid-off to field well. The pressure is really on England now – for the first time on this entire tour perhaps.
01:08 PM BST
OVER 45: ENG 225/6 (Carse 0 Smith 0)
Noman continues and the turn is prodigious now as the ball slides past Carse’s outside edge. This is really tough going for England now. If they can get through to the close without losing another wicket it will be a a fair effort.
01:05 PM BST
Wicket!
Stokes c Shafique b Noman 1 Snaffled at short leg as the rust corrodes his defensive technique. He nicks it into his pads and it loops to the diving fielder.The game turned upside down. FOW 225/6
01:04 PM BST
OVER 44: ENG 225/5 (Stokes 1 Smith 0)
Game on. Well and truly now and an off-spinner is making the difference and turning it dramatically. England have lost three for 14.
Here’s Tom Ward to take you through to the close.
01:01 PM BST
Wicket!
Brook b Sajid 9 Bowled by a big off-break. Brook was on the back foot and trying to punch it but it turned sharply to beat his inside edge. FOW 225/5
12:57 PM BST
Wicket!
Duckett c Salman Agha b Sajid 114 Tempts him to drive but the off-break turns sharply away from the left-hander and he nicks it to slip. FOW 224/4
12:57 PM BST
OVER 43: ENG 224/3 (Duckett 114 Brook 9)
Sensational shot from Brook to cream the leg-break from Zahid through extra cover for four. After four dot balls Brook bookends the over with another boundary, a one-day heave over midwicket when Zahid drags one down.
12:55 PM BST
OVER 42: ENG 216/3 (Duckett 114 Brook 1)
Well, well, well. Lack of belief is temporary! Bit too full for Root to sweep? Brook starts with a single off his first ball, stabbing it towards cover and Duckett keeps on his merry way with a flashing cut uppishly through vacant gully for four. Aamer Sohail argues for a fielder to be placed to plug that gap. It would have hit him between the eyes,’ says Lord G.
12:49 PM BST
Wicket!
Root b Sajid 34 There be drag-ons. Bottom edges a sweep off an angled bat on to his boot and thence on to the stumps. FOW 211/3
12:49 PM BST
OVER 41: ENG 210/2 (Duckett 109 Root 34)
I spoke too soon. Zahid was merely changing ends. Duckett sweeps him for a single, Root works another off his pads and then Duckett picks the googly and pans it over cover for three. Two singles round off the over. Pakistan seem to have lost all belief in themselves, undermined by poor form and inconsistent selection.
12:46 PM BST
OVER 40: ENG 203/2 (Duckett 104 Root 32)
Shan hooks poor Zahid after only three overs and turns back to the bustling Sajid. Root reverse sweeps him for a single and swivels on a low pull for two; Duckett goes deep and punches a single through cover.
Where the data is available, Ben Duckett has taken the fewest balls to reach 2,000 runs in Test cricket. He’s got there in 2,293 balls – ie a strike-rate of 87, which is fairly extraordinary.
12:41 PM BST
OVER 39: ENG 199/2 (Duckett 103 Root 29)
Salman replaces Noman and Root uses his height to reach down and drive a single through mid-on. Duckett os beaten by an off-break that zips past the edge and scuttles down for four byes but he plays his umpteenth sweep to the next ball and middles it, whacking it through midwicket for his 15th four to bring up his fourth Test century and second in Pakistan to go with one at Lord’s and one at Rajkot
12:37 PM BST
OVER 38: ENG 190/2 (Duckett 99 Root 28)
Duckett sweeps for a single to take him to 99. He turns quickly looking for two but wisely bobs back home before the throw is arrowed in from the square leg sweeper. Root drives the legbreak but it catches the edge and squirts down to third man for three.
Zahid appeals when Rizwan catches the ball following Duckett’s reverse sweep miss but the ball came off his shoulder not the bat and the bowler’s invocations to send it upstairs fall on deaf ears.
12:32 PM BST
OVER 37: ENG 186/2 (Duckett 98 Root 25)
Root drives Noman for a single, Pakistan give Duckett a buzzer to take him to 98 with a wild shy when the left-hander knocks it round the corner. Root then sweeps for two very fine and reverse sweeps through third man for his second boundary as he starts to accelerate. Noman almost has the final word, though when he turns one past Root’s forward defensive, missing the edge by millimetres.
12:28 PM BST
OVER 36: ENG 178/2 (Duckett 97 Root 18)
Duckett milks Zahid for a single with a pull into the onside, Root stabs two into the offside and Duckett ends the over struck again on the helmet when sweeping the legspinner out of the rough. Clang!
12:21 PM BST
Some drinks reading
ECB to make redundancies as part of decentralisation plan
Cricket’s governing body is undertaking cost-cutting redundancies as part of a wider plan to decentralise the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould informed staff this week that as a result of the “fast changing” environment in cricket, the governing body would be making internal changes that “sadly” would result in redundancies.
Read Will Macpherson’s exclusive in full here…
12:19 PM BST
OVER 35: ENG 175/2 (Duckett 96 Root 16)
Masood retains two slips for Noman, a bowler he clearly trusts more. Root collars a sweep for four and then brings up the fifty partnership by tickling three down to fine leg.
On come the drinks.
England’s openers do such a good job this year, but they have had a conversion issue. Crawley has made it to 60 six times, but failed to reach 80. And Duckett has a habit of leaving hundreds begging too, having made one ton but been out four times between 71 and 86, too.
12:15 PM BST
OVER 34: ENG 168/2 (Duckett 96 Root 9)
Shan Masood scatters the field for the legspinner which seems like another vote of no confidence. Ian Ward argues that it’s fair because the captain can bring the field up when he’s settled. Ramiz Raja disagrees strongly because there are too many easy singles available now and England can just get the milking stool and pail out to take them clear of the follow-on.
Indeed they take him for two singles and a two, the latter to Root, flicked off his pads.
12:11 PM BST
OVER 33: ENG 164/2 (Duckett 95 Root 6)
Noman keeps wheeling away and keeps Duckett down to a single. The spinner gets one to spit and turn over the top edge when Duckett tries to reverse sweep and he only gets away off the fifth ball with a hoick into the legside.
Here comes Zahid at last.
12:09 PM BST
OVER 32: ENG 163/2 (Duckett 94 Root 6)
Perhaps Shan is treating Zahid like Mike Atherton treated Mike Smith at Headingley in 1997, using him reluctantly as if protesting his selection. Poor lad.
Just the single to Duckett, worked into the legside.
12:07 PM BST
OVER 31: ENG 162/2 (Duckett 93 Root 6)
Duckett has such hand-eye co-ordination it’s scarcely believable how many times he nails the reverse sweep, again fetching it from outside off and carting it in front of square for four. He levers a drive for two through mid-off uppishly then whisks a single through midwicket.
Still no Zahid. The legspinner played two Tests against England on the 2022 tour but none since. He took 12 wickets at 36.16 including Joe Root twice.
12:02 PM BST
OVER 30: ENG 155/2 (Duckett 86 Root 6)
Duckett cuts in front of square for two and then works a single off Sajid through midwicket. Shan Masood burns a review trying to prise Root out but the ball didn’t turn, pitched outside off, hit him outside off and had little merit whatosever. Taking a leaf from England’s book there with a spurious referral.
12:00 PM BST
NOT OUT
Waste of a review by Shan Masood who was too keen to get rid of his Yorkshire team-mate that his judgment was clouded.
11:59 AM BST
PAK review
Fir keg-before and caught. Don’t think he hit it but it also seemingly hit him outside off stump.
11:58 AM BST
OVER 29: ENG 152/2 (Duckett 83 Root 6)
The ball spits out of the rough for Noman and clonks Duckett flush on the grille as he tried to sweep. The umpire asks for a concussion test but Duckett waves the offer away because the grille took the full force. After cuffing a reverse sweep for two, Duckett goes for another and is beaten. So is leg stump by a gnat’s and the keeper. Noman drops to his knees as England run three byes. No justice.
11:53 AM BST
OVER 28: ENG 147/2 (Duckett 81 Root 6)
Duckett steps back and slices a wider one from Sajid through vacant gully for four then works a single off his pads. Some life in this pitch now.
That over from Noman Ali – 27th of the innings – was the first maiden by a Pakistan spinner in the entire series (thanks Andy Zaltzman). It was the 90th over of spin, which shows how England have constantly looked to score.
11:49 AM BST
OVER 27: ENG 142/2 (Duckett 76 Root 6)
Maiden for Noman to Root, the left-armer cramping Root for room with a very tight line that has Rizwan chelping away in encouragement/appreciation.
11:48 AM BST
OVER 26: ENG 142/2 (Duckett 76 Root 6)
Duckett plays his one-day walking drive to Sajid and harpoons the ball through long on for four. A chop through cover earns him two and then is beaten by an off-break that whistles past the left-hander’s outside edge. Salma at slip reads Duckett’s foot movement and correctly interprets them as setting himself for a reverse sweep so he darts from first to second slip but the ball comes off a higher point pf the bat than both he and Duckett anticipated and it beat his left hand as he was moving to the right and goes for four. Had he stayed put… but you can’t blame him.
11:44 AM BST
OVER 25: ENG 132/2 (Duckett 66 Root 6)
Duckett reverse sweeps Noman for a single and Root uses that bottom wrist to flick two off the left-arm spinner through midwicket. Pope affectionately called him and Brook ‘two greedy Yorkshiremen’ last week. His appetite remains voracious.
11:39 AM BST
OVER 24: ENG 129/2 (Duckett 65 Root 4)
The ball that did for Pope was on a drivable length. He just didn’t expect it to turn so much. The ball before Pope slog swept him for four to bring up the fifty partnership and Sajid held his nerve, went fuller and castled the England No 3.
He almost gets two in two with another big-turning off break but Root manages to jam his bat down and feathers an edge into his pads to save him from leg-before and earn him a streaky two. Root reverse sweeps the next ball to double his score.
11:33 AM BST
Wicket!
Pope b Sajid 29 Lovely off-break, pitched outside off on a full length, inviting the drive. But it gripped and turned back through the gate to knock back off stump. Well bowled. FOW 125/2
11:33 AM BST
OVER 23: ENG 120/1 (Pope 25 Duckett 64)
Duckett misses out on a reverse sweep when the ball from Noman skips higher than anticipated. Rizwan gathers deftly and demolishes the timbers but Duckett’s toe had snaked back home before the keeper could react.
11:31 AM BST
OVER 22: ENG 116/1 (Pope 23 Duckett 62)
Ollie Pope was identified as the man who should step down for the return of Ben Stokes but his ‘poor form’ is a bit of an illusion. Two hundreds and two fifties in six Tests last summer is a pretty decent return, given the extra burden of the captaincy for three of them. What he is, and it;’s reflected in his average of 34.98, is a feast or famine batsmen in Tests even when in decent nick. Yes, he was out for s duck opening last week but he hammered that pull and Jamal pulled off a sensational catch.
Anyway he tucks into Jamal here as a form of revenge, smearing the ailing seamer for four through cover and following that next ball with a pull clobbered through midwicket for another.
11:22 AM BST
OVER 21: ENG 106/1 (Pope 14 Duckett 61)
Ramiz Raja says the Kookaburra quickly turns into a vegetable for the quicks so Jamal better cash in quick. David Gower suggests an onion would be the ideal analogy, red for Tests, brown/white for the short stuff.
Noman rags one past Pope’s edge as he pushes forward and Rizwan whips off the bails but the batsman’s left foot was behind the line. Ripper! But then Noman drops short and Pope carves it viciously for four. A jaffa followed by a pie.
11:18 AM BST
OVER 20: ENG 102/1 (Pope 10 Duckett 61)
Jamal sprays one on to Duckett’s pads from round the wicket and he skelps it fine for four. I don;t wish to do any jinxing here and Duckett is contributing with almost every knock in this remarkable second act of his international career. But if he could improve that conversion rate – nine scores between 71 and 98 – he would go a long way to silencing his critics, not that he has any in the England set-up.
Duckett flicks three off his pads and the fact it was a no-ball helps England into three figures.
11:12 AM BST
OVER 19: ENG 93/1 (Pope 9 Duckett 54)
Noman (is an island, entire of itself) continues for an eighth over. Pope defends and pushes, then works a single across the line towards midwicket. Rizwan greets almost every ball with an ‘Oh Yaaar!’ Sounds like a character from Fargo. Duckett applies the brush stroke to one pitched outside off, sweeping for a single.
11:08 AM BST
OVER 18: ENG 91/1 (Pope 8 Duckett 53)
Jamal, the solitary seamer, restarts with one angling across Pope and the vice-captain flicks it off his pads for two. It’s reversing already on a good length but Jamal is pretty gentle compared with Carse and Potts and His Holiness has little issue with the shape. He pulls the shorter ball for a single to keep the strike.
11:05 AM BST
Cook elevated
The former India women’s captain Neetu David and Duckett’s broom-mentor, AB De Villiers are his fellow 2024 inductees.
Sir Alastair joins fellow recent English members Charlotte Edwards, Ted Dexter, Bob Willis and Jan Brittin
10:48 AM BST
Crawley’s charmed life…
10:42 AM BST
OVER 17: ENG 88/1 (Pope 5 Duckett 53)
Pope prods at one from Noman in front of his pads and gets a little tickle on one that has short-leg interested. He just looks jumpy at the start of these innings. Hard hands; a bit ‘lungey’…you can see why teams really do target him.
That’s tea here in Multan on day two.
10:39 AM BST
OVER 16: ENG 87/1 (Pope 4 Duckett 53)
Jamal is back on to bowl some quicker stuff. Perhaps a good move considering how comfortable Duckett is starting to look against the spinners. Little sign of reverse of Jamal at present as we approach tea. It does feel as though it’s the spinners who are going to need to do the damage for Pakistan in the final session.
10:33 AM BST
OVER 15: ENG 83/1 (Pope 1 Duckett 52)
Duckett bites off slight more than he can chew with another reverse-sweep to a ball that’s far too far down the leg side before enjoying a joke with Rizwan behind the stumps.
10:30 AM BST
OVER 14: ENG 81/1 (Pope 1 Duckett 51)
Sajid is bowling a probing line to Duckett before the England opener switches his feet and reverse sweeps him out to deep point. He comes back for the second and that’s a 12th Test match fifty for him. Very, very good knock so far. He also nabs the strike at the end of the over, keeping Pope off strike.
10:27 AM BST
OVER 13: ENG 79/1 (Pope 1 Duckett 48)
Ollie Pope joins the fray. Pakistan will be homing in here with his reputation as an iffy starter preceding him. Duckett, meanwhile, continues his excellent progress with a reverse-sweep for a boundary off Noman.
Not a great innings from Crawley and he is far more comfortable facing pace on the ball from the seamers. He doesn’t really get to face much spin and it showed. Still, he put on 73 for the first wicket and England have a start.
10:22 AM BST
WICKET: Crawley c Rizwan b Noman 7
He’s gone. UltraEdge showed the faintest of nicks through to Rizwan. Not Zak Crawley’s finest knock there and England have lost their first wicket. FOW: 73/1
10:21 AM BST
REVIEW
Noman thinks he’s got Crawley caught behind…
10:20 AM BST
Here’s that missed Crawley run-out chance
10:20 AM BST
OVER 12: ENG 73/0 (Crawley 27 Duckett 43)
Thanks Rob.
And as you join me as Zak Crawley’s charmed life continues. Sajid pushes one through shorter and quicker, striking Crawley on the back pad. It’s an ugly shot really and he’s lucky the ball was clearly bouncing over.
10:17 AM BST
OVER 11: ENG 71/0 (Crawley 26 Duckett 42)
Crawley works a single off the back foot into the onside. Interestingly Crawley was going to walk until Duckett persuaded him to review.
Here’s Tom Ward to take you to tea.
10:15 AM BST
OVER 10: ENG 69/0 (Crawley 25 Duckett 41)
Either side of Crawley’s successful review, Crawley smacks a sweep in front of square for four and Duckett slog sweeps another over midwicket.
Just a run rate touch under seven in the first ten overs from Duckett and Crawley. At the moment this has shades of Rawalpindi 2022. Two lives for Crawley: chump Sajid messing up the run out on 20 and the lbw reversal through DRS on 26 playing a reverse sweep, which is not his shot normally.
10:13 AM BST
Not out
No, it was missing leg stump. Crawley’s height meant he was a long way down.
10:12 AM BST
ENG review
Crawley lbw b Sajid Reverse sweeping. Looks as though it would clip leg.
10:10 AM BST
OVER 9: ENG 60/0 (Crawley 20 Duckett 37)
Duckett continues in typically insouciant style, scooping Nomann Ali over his shoulder and leg slip for two and then nailing a square sweep for four.
10:09 AM BST
OVER 8: ENG 54/0 (Crawley 20 Duckett 31)
Told you Sajid was an excitable chap. Crawley was stranded by a yard but such was Sajid’s eagerness that he broke the stumps before the ball got to him. Crawley had backed up way too far and tried to call Duckett through for a homicidal single to midwicket before he was rightly sent back.
Pakistan have been very skittish so far. Lots of noise. And then Sajid serves up a full toss that Duckett slaps through midwicket for four. They need to calm down. Rizwan is appealing for everything and nothing.
That’s a shocker from Sajid. Running between the wickets has been one of Crawley and Duckett’s strengths as a pair, but they’ve had a few ropey moments too (there was one in Rajkot earlier this year). Can’t miss a chance like that.
10:02 AM BST
Umpire review for run out
Crawley was out of his ground but did Sajod knock off the bails before he had the ball? Yes he did. NOT OUT.
10:01 AM BST
OVER 7: ENG 48/0 (Crawley 19 Duckett 26)
Duckett sweeps and misses, wearing it on the pad. Pakistan shout an appeal and sustain it convincingly but the finger stays down. While they’re pondering a review, Kumar Dharmasena gets the message in his earpiece and sticks out an arm to signal a no-ball.
Duckett sweeps for a single, Crawley hangs back and whisks two off his pads and needs earplugs again when Noman bellows another appeal after pinning him high on the back leg by his arm ball.
Crawley pats a single through cover and Duckett ends the over with his broom, sweeping right through square leg for four, bisecting the two ill-placed sweepers. Almost seven an over with no drama. Phenomenal.
09:55 AM BST
OVER 6: ENG 39/0 (Crawley 16 Duckett 21)
Crawley bunts for two and then uses his height to smear drive down the ground for four. Sajid is an excitable chap. all bustle and enthusiasm. He also has a Reni hat that Michael Atherton says reminds him of the late Roy ‘Freddo’ Fredericks.
Sajid has so much going on. The facial hair. The appeal. The hat. My new favourite player? Hard to say he isn’t. #PAKvENG
— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) October 16, 2024
09:52 AM BST
OVER 5: ENG 33/0 (Crawley 10 Duckett 21)
Noman Ali replaces Aamer Jamal and Duckett fetches the left-arm spinner from outside off, from the non-responsive so-called rough, and slog sweeps him for four. Three balls later he gets the big brush out again and sweeps hard for four more, breaking his wrists to cuff it behind square.
Noman is excited when he drifts one on to the knee roll of Duckett and the ball loops towards but falls short of short leg. No bat anyway.
09:46 AM BST
OVER 4: ENG 25/0 (Crawley 10 Duckett 13)
Duckett works a single and a two off Sajid through midwicket and sweeps hard for four. Touch of top edge takes it over the square leg umpire. Crawley’s upright swipe only just clears short leg and they sprint a single.
09:42 AM BST
OVER 3: ENG 16/0 (Crawley 9 Duckett 5)
Another no-ball from Jamal who is, at least, running in gamely after hurting his hip while batting. Crawley whips it off his legs for two. Oh dear. The 38-year-old Noman Ali makes a complete hash of a rudimentary diving stop at mid-on, goes over the ball and Crawley picks up his firts boundary for a mistimed on-drive that was worth no more than one.
09:38 AM BST
OVER 2: ENG 9/0 (Crawley 3 Duckett 5)
Sajid Khan, an off-spinner, will share the new ball on a needs-must basis given the XI selected. There is turn straightaway as he gives it a rip and it fizzes in. Crawley works it through midwicket. Has a very busy action. loads of shoulder in it and a nice snap of the wrist. After Duckett works a single though midwicket, Sajid beats Crawley with his arm ball, zipping it past the edge. Crawley drives for a single and then Sajid appeals with the help of Rizwan jumping up and down on the spot like a beached star fish, ululating, after pinning Duckett. But it was always sliding down from round the wicket.
It’s actually eight innings and four matches since Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett opened together, due to various hand injuries. They are such a key part of this England operation.
09:33 AM BST
OVER 1: ENG 6/0 (Crawley 1 Duckett 4)
Goodness me. Jamal is fit enough to open the bowling and starts with one that Crawley leaves on length but then skids through low and whistles past off stump. Poor lad, who has hurt his hip, is then clonked on the shin as he sticks out a foot to block a straight drive. He saves three at the cost of a bruise as England jog a single.
A hen’s tooth! Duckett leaves one. As Lord Gower says, it must have been a wide for him to leave it and it did sail pretty close to the wind. More pain for Jamal when he oversteps and Duckett cuts off the front foot with stonking timing for four.
09:20 AM BST
PAK 366 all out
England look pretty happy with restricting Pakistan to 366. Given their seamers took five for 136 and the spinners five for 223, they seem to have the more suitable attack. Indeed Aamer Sohail says Pakistan are well short of par.
09:18 AM BST
Wicket!
Noman c Carse b Leach 32 Caught at deep backward square, looking to go over the top. FOW 366 all out
Noman trots down to Leach, drops to one knee and tries to slog sweep him over midwicket but misses the ball entirely.
‘This is the most stubborn pitch in history,’ says David Gower. ‘Whatever you do to it, it will not yield.’
Noman falls next ball and Leach ends with 38.3-2-114-4.
09:14 AM BST
OVER 123: PAK 366/9 (Noman 32 Zahid 2)
Noman takes on Potts’s short ball that is angled into his body and skelps it for a single. Zahid jerks a defensive poke off his body and then gets his bat down quickly into the blockhole to stop the yorker. Dogged resistance.
Leach is coming back on.
09:10 AM BST
OVER 122: PAK 365/9 (Noman 31 Zahid 2)
Numbers 10 and jack continue to dig in defiantly adding a ballooning bouncer from Carse to their total as a a wide and a single for the left-handed Noman, clipping the fuller one off middle and off to midwicket.
09:04 AM BST
OVER 121: PAK 363/9 (Noman 30 Zahid 2)
Potts beats Zahid three times in succession as he plays and misses on a fourth stump line. Too good for a No11. The balls either side also beat him but were wider and less flirtatious with the edge. The last is angled in to off stump and Zahid defends confidently if exasperatingly so for Potts.
09:00 AM BST
OVER 120: PAK 363/9 (Noman 30 Zahid 2)
Noman takes a single off the first ball as he swings across the line for a single to the midwicket sweeper. Zahid tucks a single off his pads and the 36-year-old legspinner doubles his score
Carse’s bouncer is called wide and Noman has a swish and miss at another short one outside off. Carse tries to fire one in as a yorker surprise but spears it past the left-hander’s pads.
08:55 AM BST
OVER 119: PAK 360/9 (Noman 29 Zahid 1)
Maiden for Potts to Zahid who defends stoutly as the bowler pounds the corridor until he decides to swerve in the yorker. Zahid, alive to the surprise, defends as it pitches too soon.
08:51 AM BST
OVER 118: PAK 360/9 (Noman 29 Zahid 1)
What a fine way to start a session. Carse is having a wonderful tour on these pitches. If he can stay fit he will be so valuable in Australia. Enter last man Zahid who defends and then gets off the mark by chiselling out the yorker. Definitely reversing now for Carse but not the last one, which is a bouncer that loops too high and is called wide. Another ‘last’ ball to come. It’s not as short and Noman tries to cut, bottom edging it into the pitch and dancing around to ensure it does not roll back on the stumps.
08:44 AM BST
Wicket!
Jamal b Carse 37 Gorgeous delivery first ball after lunch, jagged back and skidded on too through the gate to knock back middle and leg. FOW 358/9
08:34 AM BST
Another time
Once upon a time I played and bowled in a media game on the Test pitch in Lahore two days after the Test.
Even then the ball didn’t rag… But then it wouldn’t , would it?
08:08 AM BST
Lunch verdict
Three for 99 is a decent session for Pakistan, although the main event is yet to come – England’s batting. Worrying that Stokes has not bowled since his five overs on day one and Bashir is going for runs. He is struggling at the moment. Carse was very good again in his opening spell but is looking tired, while Potts gave away a few runs but made the vital breakthrough of Salman Agha. Slight concern for Pakistan is that their only seamer, Jamal, is struggling with a hip injury sustained playing a reverse sweep. England looked a bit flat towards the end of the session. They need to regroup.
08:07 AM BST
LUNCH: PAK 358/8
England were in the ascendancy after the first hour by virtue of their seamers and Jack Leach, removing the dangerous Rizwan and Salman Agha as well as Sajid Khan. But by hook and crook these two have put on 49 for the ninth wicket and given Pakistan good heart even if the price – should Jamal be inable to bowl – may be devastating to their fortunes, limiting them to spin rather than the reverse swing he mustered last week.
08:04 AM BST
OVER 117: PAK 358/8 (Jamal 37 Noman 29)
Just the single off the final over before lunch, Jamal working the second ball of Bashir’s 28th over down to fine leg for a single.
08:01 AM BST
OVER 116: PAK 357/8 (Jamal 36 Noman 29)
Having besmirched Noman’s batmaker or his use of it, he unfurls an elegant off drive to cream Carse for four. So Carse responds by banging it in and cramps him for room around the midriff but he manages to jab it away. The next ball is also short but doesn’t get up and Noman pulls it witheringly for four through midwicket for four.
Time for one more over before lunch.
07:56 AM BST
OVER 115: PAK 349/8 (Jamal 36 Noman 21)
Jamal reverse sweeps again, nailing it for four but again his hip seems to spasm and he hops about on one leg. Has he batted himself out of the bowling attack here? The right-hander probes the infield with flicks and nurdles without beating them as Bashir comes round the wicket. Five minutes until lunch. Would be good to test Noman against a quick bowler and see how badly Jamal’s mobility has been compromised. Indeed… here comes Carse.
07:53 AM BST
OVER 114: PAK 345/8 (Jamal 32 Noman 21)
Jamal has a rub and a long drink. On resumption he works a single off Leach through midwicket. Potts then kicks the boundary sponge after he sticks out a hand to stop Noman’s chunky sweep and the ball jumps over his mitt after hitting a lump on a practice pitch at deep backward square. The partnership is now 36.
Yesterday, as Kamran Ghulam compiled his wonderful century, the camera regularly scanned to Pakistan’s proud-looking new selection panel, no doubt delighted with their work. Well, they might not be quite as smug if Aamer Jamal, their sole seamer, has done himself a mischief and cannot bowl…
07:49 AM BST
OVER 113: PAK 340/8 (Jamal 31 Noman 17)
The law of Sod threatens to strike when Jamal, Pakistan’s only seamer, seems to have twanged his groin/hip and needs treatment for it after trying a reverse sweep and toppling in discomfort. It affects his on-drive which he scrapes for a single before No man uses the linseed-oil hole to hit four on the cut, toeing it past slip. His bat has no meat. Positively vegetarian. On comes the physio.
07:44 AM BST
OVER 112: PAK 334/8 (Jamal 30 Noman 12)
Noman reverse sweeps, not quite timing it but scuffing it nonetheless for three over point. Leach ends the over with one that arcs into the right-hander, dips, grips and rips past the edge. Blimey! Hello stranger!
07:41 AM BST
OVER 111: PAK 331/8 (Jamal 30 Noman 9)
Bashir’s over is elongated by movement behind his arm. England’s rate, despite plenty of overs for the spinners this morning, is still dilatory, not always trespassing spectators’ fault. Noman proves his innings has more edges than a broken… erm… chamber pot when he tries to pull Bashir and the ball flies off the bottom edge down to third man. Jamal uses the face of the bat to pat a single through cover.
This is the shadow boxing phase of the day, the main event is when England bat. How will Pakistan cope with just one seamer? Suspect Shan Masood will have to roll out his medium pacers. The pitch is only offering slow turn, with the odd one doing something. England will have to be careful though. Sweeps and cross batted shots might be tricky on a low, slow pitch. But we know how they will approach it.
07:37 AM BST
OVER 110: PAK 329/8 (Jamal 29 Noman 8)
Only the single for Jamal as he mis-hits a defensive push off an inside edge into the legside off Leach. Noman keeps the last three out with relative comfort.
07:35 AM BST
OVER 109: PAK 328/8 (Jamal 28 Noman 8)
Bashir replaces Potts and Noman sweeps him for two in orthodox fashion then slog-sweeps the next ball for four over the square-leg umpire. Basit Ali suggests chin music might be the winning formula against Pakistan’s No 10 but concedes the pitch is hardly conducive. Is it worth risking Stokes’ hamstring for the sake of a barrage at a tailender?
07:32 AM BST
OVER 108: PAK 322/8 (Jamal 28 Noman 2)
Jamal looks relatively untroubled by spin and crouches deep in his crease to work two off his pads and another single off his toes putting Noman on strike. He, too, looks fairly accomplished against the slower bowlers and scrapes a single off the inside edge.
07:30 AM BST
OVER 107: PAK 318/8 (Jamal 25 Noman 1)
Maiden for Potts to Noman and this time, after being pinned from round the wicket by one angling down the legside, the left-hander locates the middle of his bat in solid defence.
07:21 AM BST
OVER 106: PAK 318/8 (Jamal 25 Noman 1)
Noman Ali gets off the mark by scuffing an on drive down the ground off Leach for a single. That was off the fifth ball after the left-hander had defended four pretty unconvincingly with edge and toe. Has the bat no middle?
07:17 AM BST
OVER 105: PAK 317/8 (Jamal 25 Noman 0)
Jamal, last bat standing, decides it’s time to make hay while he still can and pulls Potts clean and hard for four before scything a square cut for another.
07:12 AM BST
OVER 104: PAK 309/8 (Jamal 17 Noman 0)
Leach slides one on to Sajid Khan’s pad and appeals with great gusto but it was always sliding down. No matter, he gets the off-spinner, who does have a first-class hundred to his name, two balls later, chipping straight to Root.
07:08 AM BST
Wicket!
Sajid Khan c Root b Leach 2 Another victory and wicket for the most effective scalp-hunter in Test cricket, D.R. Inks-Break. Leach tempts Sajid outside off, nice and full, bit of drift and he spoons a catch to Root tucked in close at cover one pitch over. FOW 309/8
07:07 AM BST
Some drinks thoughts on Smith
As a wicketkeeper Jamie Smith used to be like Ben Foakes on a bad day. Now he is becoming like Ben Foakes full stop. All round excellence. The one criticism thereby implied is that he needs to be more assertive when offering his opinion on decision reviews.
07:04 AM BST
OVER 103 PAK 309/7 (Jamal 17 Sajid 2)
Potts gives Jamal a bit too much width twice and Jamal cuffs a pull for two and then smacks another two off the back foot through cover. Jamal wanted three for the first of his scoring shots but dogged fielding at long on kept him down to two.
On come the drinks. England have taken two for 50 off 13 overs in the opening hour.
07:00 AM BST
OVER 102: PAK 304/7 (Jamal 13 Sajid 1)
Jamal pierces the covers with a drive off Leach for a single and Sajid Khan gets off the mark by opening the face and poking a single behind square on the offside.
Clever from Stokes and Potts to bag Salman like that, using his strength with the angled bat against him.
06:56 AM BST
OVER 101: PAK 302/7 (Jamal 12 Sajid 0)
The lack of a third man means Potts starts leakily when Salman opens the face to run a pair of fours off successive deliveries through the gap. Instead of sacrificing one of his catchers on the offside or that semi-silly mid-on, Stokes brings up a gully to stop that shot. And it pays off! Potts going fuller and extracting a but of zip. Four of seven wickets to the seamers and yet Pakistan have only one, Jamal, who is 8-10mph on average slower than Carse and Potts.
06:52 AM BST
Wicket!
Salman Agha c Smith b Potts 31 Kicked up a bit outside off and Agha tried to run a third four off the over down to third man and nicked it off a half-horizontal bat to the keeper. Credit to Stokes there for his fielding change that must have preyed on the batsman’s mind. FOW 302/7
That was a very enjoyable little passage. Pakistan milk boundaries through gully and third man. Stokes partially plugs the gap with a catcher at gully. Salman has one more go, but the extra bounce does for him and he is caught behind. Cat and mouse.
06:50 AM BST
OVER 100: PAK 294/6 (Agha 23 Jamal 12)
Two singles off Leach’s 31st over, Jamal nurdling one into the onside and Salman nailing the sweep, crouching seemingly impossibly low to collar it. It’s a surprise we didn’t hear his quads and knees screaming. Must be a bendy man. Potts is coming back on, replacing Carse.
Nasser Hussain says he thinks 350 is par. I think it might be 50-100 higher than that. The pitch isn’t misbehaving in the slightest.
06:46 AM BST
OVER 99: PAK 292/6 (Agha 22 Jamal 11)
One more over for Carse and he tempts Jamal into the uppercut, swishing and missing outside off. If that one bounced, two balls later a fuller one dies in the pitch and Jamal spoons a drive at catchable height between mid-off and the bowler for four. More yelps and sighs from England, more rueful smiles. Jamal slaps a single off a no-ball through cover and Agha opens the face to one that climbed above waist height and deflects it stylishly down to third man for four. The No7 ends the over with an on-drive for two and a deliberate thick edge wide off first slip for four more. Well played.
06:39 AM BST
OVER 98: PAK 276/6 (Agha 12 Jamal 5)
Jamal takes on Leach and slaps a back-foot drive bisecting the two men at cover there for that shot. One of them, Zak Crawley yelps in anguish and Ben Stokes grins while placing both palms on his head. Root is very close in, Crawley to his left and the ball sailed tight through the gap at head height.
06:37 AM BST
OVER 97: PAK 276/6 (Agha 12 Jamal 5)
Carse uses the crease well to vary his line and try to mess with the batsmen’s set-ups. Two singles off the over, Salman’s flipped off the hip, Aamer’s again flicked off his toes but encouraging signs when bowling to Salman Agha of squaring him up slightly, that back leg coming round on to off stump.
06:30 AM BST
OVER 96: PAK 273/6 (Agha 11 Jamal 4)
An early bowl for Jack Leach, which makes sense and should allow Potts and Carse to concentrate on attacking from one end. Twice the left-armer errs too full and Salman clips a single off his laces before Jamal flicks another for two.
06:27 AM BST
OVER 95: PAK 270/6 (Agha 10 Jamal 2)
Another good over from Carse, hitting that heavy length at 140 clicks. Jamal, who was struck several time son the head and body during the first Test by Carse, moves off the mark by tucking two off his hips. Despite the bruises from all those clouts last week, Jamal. admirably, still gets in line.
It is a bit cooler in Multan this morning. The winter smog is starting to take effect as the farmers in the Punjab start burning stubble in the fields. It gets progressively worse in late October, November and December. On the last tour in 2022 England did not play in Lahore because of the smog issue, which worsens with winter fog. It does give some respite to the quick bowlers.
06:23 AM BST
OVER 94: PAK 268/6 (Agha 10 Jamal 0)
Five probing dot balls from Potts to Salman at a decent lick. He looks a much better bowler than the one who made a wholehearted debut in 2022 but was left to kick his heels throughout 2023. After composing that line of praise he hangs the last ball outside off and Salman creams a drive through cover point for four.
06:20 AM BST
OVER 93: PAK 264/6 (Agha 6 Jamal 0)
Superb work from Smith who was going towards the leg stump given the angle and adjusted to launch a dive off his left foot low to his right. Just the single off the over when Salman Agha poked a single jerkily down to the third man.
06:16 AM BST
Wicket!
Rizwan c Smith b Carse 41 Terrific from Carse. He’s the real deal. He has been pounding a heavy length consistently and gets one to angle into Rizwan and turn him in an S shape as he pushed forward and the ball nibbled away slightly as he groped towards it, nicking it through. Smith took a smart catch. FOW 264/6
Nothing more than England deserve this morning, that wicket. Lots of praise for Jamie Smith yesterday and he is worthy of it again. So many balls fart their way through at ankle height on this surface; that one, like the one to Shakeel yesterday, absolutely flew.
06:13 AM BST
OVER 92: PAK 263/5 (Rizwan 41 Agha 5)
The offside ring, three fielders from point to mid-off two pitches across, stop Rizwan’s pokes yielding any runs. England burn a second review when Potts angles one in from wide on the crease that strikes the keeper-batsman above the knee after gating him. But Potts was so wide on the crease it was always spearing down.
Rizwan gets Pakistan moving for the morning with one that skids on from a fuller length and the right-hander smears it through cover for four. Some encouragement for the bowler, though, from Rizwan plating all around that lbw shout and from the final ball that squared him up in defence.
06:09 AM BST
Not out
Missing leg.
06:09 AM BST
England review
Rizwan lbw b Potts Arrowed into his thigh. Edge? Don’t think so.
06:06 AM BST
OVER 91: PAK 259/5 (Rizwan 37 Agha 5)
Brydon Carse has first dibs. One slip, gully and a short if not silly mid-on, a ‘you don’t have to be mad to field here, but it helps’ position. The ball is 10 overs old and should not reverse in the Multan haze for another 20-30 overs. Carse bangs it in, back of a length, and Salman Agha defends. The ball is coming on at a decent pace rather than dying. Carse pitches up and the right-hander defends to cover, nose over the ball. Maiden to start with for Carse who bowled with nice zip. Potts will accompany him.
05:58 AM BST
Michael Atherton reports on the pitch
Rock hard and the ‘plates’ formed by the cracks do not move. Just some signs that the edges are starting to crumble but not a minefield by any stretch.
Sky also reports that Ben Stokes has his thigh strapped which Messrs Ward and Atherton say was not the case yesterday. One to keep an eye on…
05:40 AM BST
A hundred on debut and RSI pending for the signwriter
05:38 AM BST
Look up for hope, not down at the pitch?
05:27 AM BST
Preview: Neatly poised
Arise ye followers of Matt Bianco and the Boo Radleys. Your time has come. Good morning and welcome to live coverage of day two of the second Test between Pakistan and England at Multan which the hosts begin on 259 for five after Kamran Ghulam’s century on debut and a stand of 149 between him and the opener Saim Ayub. It’s a respectable score in normal circumstances, given they were playing on a day six pitch and the batsmen were repeatedly scratching and scraping great lumps of dirt out of the popping creases with their spikes.
And yet the match is pretty well poised. Scoring was never straightforward. England, used to going at four or, last week, five an over, kept Pakistan down to 2.87 by virtue of some excellent quick and swing bowling from the trio of Cuddies – Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Ben Stokes – plus the Ciderabad spin twins, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir. Sir Geoffrey Boycott of this parish always maintains that one should reserve judgment on a pitch until both sides have batted on it and though there was turn at times for Leach and Bashir, Pakistan’s rookies (Noman Ali with 47 wickets at 33.53 is their leading wicket-taker) face a daunting task against England’s dashers whatever their batsmen post.
This may be a hostage to fortune but it doesn’t look like a pitch that’s going to rag square, like Ahmedabad in Feb 2021 when England were flattened for 112 and 81 and Joe Root took five for eight as they skittled India for 145 in their first innings. It seems to me to be the kind of pitch on which Ben Duckett’s Heinz 57 varieties of sweeps and Joe Root’s wrists and Harry Brook’s astonishing array of strokes may well prosper. Throw that back at me if they crash and burn…
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