England seek calm end to chaotic Test summer against penitent Pakistan

There are some chilly white-ball games still to come this month and with it the sight of Kevin Pietersen back in England training kit for the first time in 12 years. KP is down with the kids these days, 6/7 memes and the like, and starts a new life as the “specialist mentor” to Harry Brook’s young thrusters.

But the final Test of the summer that starts at Edgbaston on Wednesday does feel like an end of sorts, or at least one last push before a breather for the side that has undergone the more significant recalibration. And that is before we get on to Pakistan and a tour that has descended into a bonfire of players and a phone-snatching investigation into “discipline and conduct”.

None of what has transpired on the English side of the ledger was the plan back in March, save for sitting 2-0 up with one to play in this second home series. Ben Stokes has left the building, while Brendon McCullum has been boxed off into white-ball specialism. And as the Test team await Stephen Fleming’s arrival as head coach, those operating under the rebooted captaincy of Joe Root have been slowly deprogrammed from some of the extremes of the Bazball era.

All of this has taken place in a season where late-night drinking incidents have generated copious headlines and, more relevant to the Test cricket witnessed, the Dukes ball has dominated the bat. Wobble seam has been calling shots and a wicket has fallen every 40 deliveries on average. Not since the 1880s has this figure been lower for a summer in England which, given this has also been the hottest since the days of WG Grace, has been quite something.

It has been a far cry from 12 months ago, certainly, when all five Tests against India went five days, batters loosened their belts, and fast bowlers walked off at stumps with blood in their boots. Instead, Ollie Robinson has breezily nipped out 23 victims at eight runs apiece, while Ben Duckett’s 113 at Trent Bridge remains the only century to have been scored by an England player.

Root was keen to stress this context a day before the toss and not simply because his own average this season sits just under 30 amid a growing pattern of lbw dismissals. The last Test of summer is traditionally when players state their case to make the winter tours and Root was keen to assure his fellow batters that the dominance of the bowlers will be factored in when plans are drawn up for their next assignment in South Africa this December.

While Jacob Bethell will create a logjam in the top seven when he returns to fitness after knee surgery, players such as Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox and Dan Lawrence have instead been encouraged to focus on this week alone, the completion of a 3-0 clean sweep, and to consider the team’s needs at any given moment. “It’s understanding that the game is bigger than you and your individual achievements,” Root said when asked about Gay. “It is what you do collectively that matters.”

Whether a late outbreak of runs occurs on an Edgbaston surface that is brown and light on grass remains to be seen. And there may be more factors at play. This is the first time the ground has hosted a Test in September, while this is the 47th pitch out of 48 that has been prepared this year. The ball has swung during the recent County Championship fixtures also, with the increasingly autumnal overheads potentially more relevant than a tired surface.

As well as a desire for greater adaptability and nuance with the bat, rather than the prescriptive attacking mantra of before, another change from the previous England regime has been the return of the sports psychologist David Young this series. A key part of the setup that won the World Cup in 2019, and still contracted for 50 days a year overall, Young was not required by the Test team under McCullum because the head coach himself was the resident shrink.

Although, one wonders whether Pakistan are in greater need of Young’s services given how messy their tour has become this past week: seven players and two coaches have been shown the door, the same number have walked through it in the other direction. Even by Pakistan’s standards, it has been chaos; the kind that makes England’s Ashes calamity last winter look like a minor blip.

In Pakistan’s favour is the fact that the only way is up. And with Root admitting his backroom staff are slightly light on info about the newcomers, there is the element of surprise. For Babar Azam, who notably distanced himself from the mid-tour overhaul and the disciplinary issues that have since emerged, this Test is simply a “golden chance” for the next generation to make their mark.

Among them are Ubaid Shah and Razaullah, two young seamers who should bring a bit more zip in support of Mohammad Abbas, while the opener Saim Ayub offers a part-time spin option that could allow Pakistan to match England’s four‑pronged pace attack. Whether all this is enough to see the home side’s summer of unplanned recalibration finish on a bum note is another matter.