Razaullah had faced 43 balls when he reached his half-century, the fastest fifty by a Pakistan batter on Test debut. By the time he had faced 63, he had 81 runs, nine sixes and a Test match that England thought was over on Thursday morning. Pakistan, 318-8 in their second innings and still two runs behind, finished on 449 all out. England, chasing a first home whitewash of Pakistan, need 130 on day four at Edgbaston.
Alastair Cook was unsparing on Test Match Special. “What I saw was no plan, it got out of control,” the former England captain said. “You can get done by the tail — it’s very hard when people have the licence and ability to hit sixes. That’s when you need the backroom staff and coaches to step up. I would have loved to have seen a message and some real leadership from the coaches.”
Short balls, deep fields and a part-timer with the new ball
The criticism was not that England were hit — tails hit — but that they kept offering the same ball. The seamers settled into a short-ball plan with fielders posted on the boundary, and when they did attempt to bowl at the stumps, they missed them. Gus Atkinson was struck for three sixes in the space of four balls. Josh Tongue went for another.
The figures tell the story of a plan that never changed. Jofra Archer finished with 1-120 from 22 overs, Tongue 2-106 from 22, Atkinson 3-109 from 24. Ollie Robinson, the most economical of the frontline bowlers at 2-54 from 23 overs, did not take the second new ball. Dan Lawrence, a part-time off-spinner, did — and finished with 2-17 from 4.4 overs, eventually stumping the problem out by having Razaullah dismissed.
Jonathan Agnew called the sequence exactly that. “You cannot and should not bowl like that to tailenders as soon as they come in,” he said. “Dan Lawrence is a part-time off-spinner and he took the second new ball. If you’re looking for any aspect of the day that is utterly bonkers, that is it.”
Michael Vaughan was blunter about the pattern. “We shouldn’t be surprised by England, they’ve delivered tactically like this on a regular basis,” he said. “The basics of Test cricket generally work and that’s to hit the top of the stumps.”
How a 320-run lead became a 129-run deficit
The collapse in control was all the more striking given how the match had gone. Pakistan were bowled out for 133 in 33.5 overs on the first day — their third sub-200 first innings of the series. England replied with 453, built without a century: Harry Brook 75, Jamie Smith 69, Lawrence 65, Emilio Gay 60 and Robinson 50. Razaullah, the 21-year-old from Mardan, took 4-148 on debut, Joe Root among his victims.
England declined the follow-on with a lead of 320. Shan Masood made 95, Babar Azam 76 and Azan Awais 59 to make Pakistan’s second effort respectable, but at 318-8 the arithmetic still favoured England overwhelmingly. Razaullah and Mohammad Abbas, who made 42, then added 121 for the ninth wicket — Pakistan’s biggest ninth-wicket stand against England since 1984 — and turned a deficit into a lead of 129. Razaullah’s nine sixes equalled Tim Southee’s 2008 record for a Test debutant.
Interim head coach Marcus Trescothick did not dispute the reading. “I’m disappointed, of course,” he said. “We were in a position where they were eight down and the scores were level.”
What it means with 130 to get
England remain heavy favourites. They lead the series 2-0 after wins at Headingley and Lord’s, and 130 on a fourth-day pitch that has already produced 1,035 runs in three completed innings should be within reach. A win delivers the first 3-0 home Test whitewash of Pakistan in England’s history.
But the questions Cook raised outlast the scoreboard. England are operating with an interim head coach in Trescothick and bowling coach Tim Southee — who holds the record Razaullah just matched — stationed on the boundary rope while the plan drifted. Root, back as captain after Ben Stokes’ retirement, has inherited a side whose habit of leaking runs to the lower order is now a documented pattern rather than a bad afternoon.
With an Ashes cycle ahead, the tail is precisely where Tests are lost. England have one morning to make the criticism look like a footnote.
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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