Ollie Robinson returned match figures of eight for 35 as England beat Pakistan by 194 runs at Lord’s on Sunday, sealing the series 2-0 with a match and a day to spare — and prompting interim head coach Marcus Trescothick to reach for the most loaded comparison in modern English cricket.
“We do have some real skill and when you look back to ’05 – Harmy, Fred, Simon and Hoggy – you could easily make those sort of comparisons,” Trescothick said of a seam attack of Robinson, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue that has dismantled Pakistan twice in ten days.
Trescothick opened the batting in that 2005 Ashes side, so he knows exactly what he is invoking. Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones bowled England to a 2-1 win over Australia in the most celebrated series played on English soil, and no England pace unit since has been allowed near the comparison without a fight.
The numbers behind the comparison
The case is built on two Tests of near-total control. England won at Headingley by an innings and 103 runs inside three days, then set Pakistan 389 at Lord’s and bowled them out for 194, Saud Shakeel’s 97 the only serious resistance. Across the series, Robinson and Archer have taken 24 of the 38 Pakistan wickets to fall to bowlers; Atkinson and Tongue have shared the other 14. England have not needed a specialist spinner.
Robinson has been the outlier. The 32-year-old took four for 11 and four for 24 at Lord’s, his third player-of-the-match award in three Tests since a recall that ended a two-and-a-half-year international absence. He has 23 wickets at 8.35 this summer and sits on 99 career Test wickets.
What interests Trescothick more is the shape of the group. The four map onto the 2005 quartet with unusual neatness: Robinson’s new-ball control and wobble-seam accuracy is the Hoggard role, Archer supplies the Harmison pace, while Tongue and Atkinson operate as the aggressive change bowlers Flintoff and Jones once were.
- Robinson — new-ball control, 8-35 in the Lord’s Test
- Archer — express pace, sharing 24 series wickets with Robinson
- Tongue — 3-46 in Pakistan’s second innings at Lord’s
- Atkinson — fourth seamer in an all-pace attack
“I’m enjoying the fact we’ve got four who are match fit at the moment and we’ve a few behind it that we’re starting to get ready,” Trescothick said. “We’ve got a good contrast in what we’re trying to do. What we do have is three guys bowling at 92 miles an hour, which is really nice to have in your armoury.”
Why 2005 still sets the bar
The 2005 attack was defined by variety rather than raw numbers — Harmison’s bounce, Hoggard’s swing, Flintoff’s relentless length and Jones’s reverse swing, each functioning as a different problem. That combination is rarer than pace alone, and it is the reason the comparison carries weight.
Michael Vaughan, who captained that side, is not ready to hand the title over. He said the current attack can only be measured against his bowlers “when they win a major series”, though he added: “They are certainly capable of doing something really special, and winning back the Ashes for England next summer.”
The distinction matters. Pakistan arrived without their first-choice attack settled and were beaten inside three days at Headingley on a surface that offered England’s seamers everything. The 2005 bowlers earned their reputation against a batting order containing Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer.
Fleming, Edgbaston and the Ashes
Context sharpens the moment. This is England’s first multi-match series win since New Zealand in December 2024, and Joe Root’s first as captain since Sri Lanka in early 2021 — Root having returned to the job after Ben Stokes retired. Trescothick is in charge only until Stephen Fleming, appointed on a four-year deal running to September 2030, takes over ahead of the South Africa tour in December. Brendon McCullum remains white-ball coach.
That leaves the third Test at Edgbaston, starting 9 September, as both a dead rubber and an audition. Trescothick intends to treat it as neither.
“First and foremost I want to win the series 3-0 and I think if you’re going to do that you want to play the most consistent team possible,” he said, resisting the temptation to rotate.
His longer-term argument is about accumulation rather than conditions England have already mastered. “The more Test matches they all play together, the better opportunity we’ve got when you go to more challenging conditions and away from home in particular,” he said.
South Africa in December will test that theory. The Ashes next summer will settle it.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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