Crawley and Root steady the ship for England after madcap period

If Gus Atkinson had not dropped the easiest of skiers, when Abrar served up another opportunity…

Then Ben Duckett would not have copped the blow to his left thumb taking the catch at slip that finally dismissed Abrar, and he would have been able to open the England first innings.

As it was, Ollie Pope moved up from No 3, and he was promptly brilliantly caught at mid-wicket second ball as England reached 96-1 in reply to Pakistan’s 556.

On such twists and turns are Test matches decided. One outcome leads to another, and so on. Actions, in other words, have knock-on effects.

Perhaps the heat - England were in the field for 149 overs in total in the melting pot of Multan - took its toll towards the end of the Pakistan innings.

It looks warm enough out there to fry an egg on the boundary rope; earlier this year, temperatures in the city neared 50C.

Only a few days ago, England were finishing off the latest round of yawn-yawn white-ball games here against Australia, the results of interest only to those directly associated or with nothing else to do.

Tired bodies lead to tired minds, tired reflexes and tired decision-making; there was mitigation, at least, in the madness that befell England.

Otherwise, it was a day of steady accumulation, first by Pakistan, who advanced from their overnight 328-4, and then by England, who settled things down well in the final hour or so.

For that, they had Zak Crawley to thank, primarily, and Joe Root, who also moved up one from No 4 due to Duckett’s damaged digit.

Crawley - making his return from his own broken digit - played beautifully for 64, which included 11 fours, and Root chalked off 32 of the 71 runs he needed to beat Sir Alastair Cook as England’s leading run-scorer in Tests.

Root will resume with a flat pitch at his disposal and the record at his mercy; destiny beckons for the 33-year-old Yorkshireman.

After Shan Masood’s century on the first day, it was another Pakistan batsman with Yorkshire connections who held up England for half of day two.

Saud Shakeel – who played three County Championship matches at the start of the 2023 season – advanced from his overnight 35 to 82, at which point he got a fine ball from Shoaib Bashir that turned him around slightly and kissed the outside edge.

Shakeel was another of those unsuccessful short-term overseas signings in which Yorkshire have specialised, his pay cheque rather greater, one supposes, than the sum of his runs: 71 in five innings.

Granted, it was not quite a Shannon Gabriel-style disaster, the West Indies fast bowler infamously sending down 26 no-balls in his two Championship matches for the club in 2022. But, not for the first time, one wondered why Yorkshire had bothered, yet more good money thrown after bad.

Multan in October is a world away from England in May, and Shakeel played in unflustered style, the diminutive left-hander facing 177 balls and persuading eight of them to the boundary.

He fits the old cliche of the batsman who, without anyone realising it, has suddenly added 20 runs to his tally.

The 29-year-old enjoys batting against England, against whom he now averages 61.14 in Tests. His seven Test innings against them have not produced a century but they have yielded five fifties, his scores reading: 37, 76, 63, 94, 23, 53 and now 82.

Shakeel was not alone in thwarting England after the first-day hundreds from Masood and Abdullah Shafique left the tourists up against it.

Not until half-an-hour before lunch did England claim their first wicket of day two, Naseem Shah, the nightwatchman, turning to Harry Brook around the corner to hand Brydon Carse his first Test scalp, ending a stand with Shakeel worth 64.

Mohammad Rizwan came and went, an agricultural swipe at Jack Leach sailing to mid-off, while Shakeel’s departure felt out of the blue.

It prompted some lusty hitting from Salman Ali Agha, the accomplished all-rounder, batting at No 8, who proceeded to his third Test century on just his 15th appearance, ending on 104 not out from 119 balls with 10 fours and three sixes.

Salman, who was lucky to survive a one-man relay attempt at long-off off Leach when Chris Woakes touched the rope, was well supported by Shaheen Shah Afridi, the No 10, who battled for 70 minutes before Leach bowled him, Aamer Jamal the other wicket to fall, lbw to Carse.