England v Pakistan Test Match Series 2026

Looks like a fair bit of weather around days 1-2 on some models, not a lot on others. Any rain should be showery though, so luck is going to play a big part in what they get at the ground.

At last we can get back to some proper cricket instead of our top players dikking around in pyjamas for a month when the sun was shining.

And what do ya know, there could be rain about to interrupt proceedings
One hopes that stoppages due to the weather will be at a minimum, but if rain should ruin the game then the ECB will have got exactly what they deserve having ruined the cricketing schedule for most of us. Going from weeks of slogging in a meaningless competition straight in to a 5 day test match is crazy.

From a cricket lovers point of view I just hope that the weather stays fair for this series as well as the resumption of the County Championship which is as wide open as i can remember and was really building up a head of steam when forced to take the enforced break courtesy of the wretched Hundred.

Despite the poor preparation, England should win this series comfortably against a modest Pakistan side, but the visitors do at least have the advantage of having played two tests in the West Indies recently, so should be ready to go.

Picking Pope and Lawrence does not give me confidence in the new regime... Maybe Mike Brearley's due a recall?

Surely Derek Pringle must be in contention

Ooh, yes, he was good in the 1991 Headingley Test.

Good news for England, shame for cricket lovers who like to see decent players - Babar Azam is out of the first test with a hand injury picked up in a warm up game.

He is their captain and best batsman

love test cricket, this after bangers fantastic win v aus, and a thriller in prospect on the final day ind v s lanka

yes good to have proper cricket back.

not sure of joe root as captain though- we shall see

Wicket first ball for Robinson. Swung, moved off the seam lbw, completely deceived the batter who in turn played late.

Great start, good toss to win, conditions bowler friendly.

Could easily be 3 or 4 more before lunch.

Why do we have to endure the foreign 'call centre 'female commentator,it does my head in.

She is awful.


Another lbw for Robinson.

Aug 19, 2026 -- 11:09AM, BESTMATE44 wrote:

Why do we have to endure the foreign 'call centre 'female commentator,it does my head in.

Urooj Umtaaz? Ive listened to her for a while. She has been on the mike for awhile now. I understand she is a dentist as well.

Looking at the forecast, the rest of the 1st Day at Leeds looks fine weather wise. Pakistan might be battling to bat out the day at 28/2.

Urooj Umtaaz? Ive listened to her for a while. She has been on the mike for awhile now. I understand she is a dentist as well.




I think she is just filling in

Boom boom.

And Pakistan 1st innings at one stage was trading on the spreads for above 300.5 runs, might struggle to get 200+ now.

12 plus wickets on day one...just the usual then.

I see that the 'call centre' commentator is on nice and early.Please Sky bring back Bumble,he has served his time!

The rains on it's way again

Bumble thinks that young Flintoff should be in the England squad so he should remain sectioned imo

He only looks good because he is at Lancashire.

Take the International players out and they have a very mediocre squad indeed.

298/4 @ 6.15

Looks like one innings will be enough.

I don't doubt that Rocky has potential barstool, but it's far too soon for a call up. Give the lad time to get some experience.

Pakistan will rue those dropped catches today i think, yet again the spawny Brook gets an early let off and goes on to get 90 odd.
The number of lives that lad gets is incredible, no wonder his average is so high.

Could be all over tomorrow if the weather holds fair.

Come on Dixie, I know you're better than that..

Regardless of his approach he (Brook) averages 53+ and is currently ranked no.1 in the test rankings (not a perfect barometer I accept but not ignorable either)..

he has no credible defensive game, much like Duckett...way too late to develop one amongst the modern calendar demands and eras of financial reward...

you'd find a pretty shallow list of batsman in the last 50 years that have been that effective for England..

he frustrates a bit for sure  but if he starts trying to play properly his numbers won't go up imo..they'll actually go down ( as Duckett) ..the bigger issue under some of McCullum's tenure were Root feeling the need to play that way and some decent county players being taken out of the equation on strike rate alone.

If Harry had been around a few years ago he would have been regularly found out, bowlers had a lot more nous than today.
Which is the main reason why there is the "shallow pool" of batsmen over the last 50 years you speak of.
He would still have scored runs but not at the average he has today.
Only Travis Head is equal to him this year for the number of lives whilst batting in test cricket. I know you still have to take advantage of good fortune like that (and maybe i'm making more of it than necessary to make a point) but he does seem to have more luck than certain other batsmen.

I would have absolutely loved bowling at someone like him   and indeed a lot of modern test batsmen who are brought up on a diet of one day cricket.
I find it frustrating watching bowlers today persisting with the same old carp instead of adapting to the situation. England's insistence of continually bowling short at the tail in the last couple of years for instance.

I was brought up watching the great West Indies pacemen and the likes of Lillee, Tommo, Hadlee etc so maybe i am just being unrealistic in my expectations of todays bowlers as we don't have their like any more.

125/8 should be over at tea. So a blank Saturday.

Why not start on a Thursday or is that asking too much?

Gone are the days of Thursdays always being the first day of a test match unfortunately. Too much meaningless stuff to fit in to the calendar.

England much too good for Pakistan here, who looked extremely average. Hard to see them competing for the rest of the series but if Babar returns then that will give then a boost. The England bowlers were very professional and the track suited them well. Not good for test cricket when games are so one sided and finish in 2 and a half days

Conditions up and down the country are completely different this week, in contrast to the fine weather throughout the infernal Hundred

As such batting looks much more difficult as the Championship scores bear out. It's a full programme of 9 matches across the two divisions. Half the teams didn't even make 200 in their first innings.

Although a couple of sides are still in their first knock, only two so far have made it past 300.

It's very sad to see such a poor Pakistan side after watching all the great players they've had over the years.

Credit to England though, for a professional performance. England's fast bowling is something to be excited about, especially with the likes of Fisher and Baker to come, as they all gain experience.