Eng vs Pak, 1st Test - Root returns to England's hot seat with the need for a blank canvas

Leeds street artist, “The Burley Banksy”, has used the telephone exchange boxes around Headingley as canvases for the heroes and events that derive from its two sporting venues.

Alas, with only so many boxes to go around, judgment calls have to be made. Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds Rhinos may share a stand, but that’s it. And ahead of t’Banksy’s latest homage to the rugby league side, one of cricket’s murals had to be sacrificed.

Peering through the initial coat of blue and amber is the faint outline of Jonny Bairstow’s exploits from June 2022; 162 and 71 not out in the third Test against New Zealand in 2022. It confirmed a 3-0 win in a bombastic introductory series for Ben Stokes’ captaincy and Brendon McCullum’s Test coaching tenure.

A little on the nose? Granted, it’s not whitewash. But on the eve of the first series beyond the Stokes-McCullum era, against Pakistan, and despite those seismic moments of the previous four years, it does still feel as though English cricket’s best chance to move on is to gloss over it all.

You will not find anyone at the ECB, or around the team, who is against drawing a line under the start of the Test summer. And, though the manner in which they have reached their new posts has been awkward, is there a better pair to usher in sensibility than new skipper Joe Root and interim coach Marcus Trescothick? Distinguished and beloved homely batters, carrying the air of a father-son duo who have always had the season tickets in the row behind you. The safest pair of hands for a team chastened by the last few months. The perfect combination to at least frame all this as a do-over.

“I think my natural personality is probably suited to that,” Root said, matter-of-factly, when asked if part of his remit as returning Test captain is to restore calm and order. Speaking to BBC Test Match Special, he reiterated his desire to see players “represent your country in the best possible light”, a statement he had first made while abolishing the midnight curfew – his first act upon reappointment.

That sunny disposition will come in handy to combat the looming shadows of this week, which go beyond the dark clouds set to punctuate this Test with rain. The Hundred has already made its impact, with England waiting until the toss to name their XI – a distinct shift from the proactive announcements of Stokes’ era. The desire is to see how their bowlers pull up, with Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue limited to a solitary day of training after their victory with Manchester Super Giants in Sunday’s final.

There is also the remote spectre of Stephen Fleming, McCullum’s full-time replacement, watching on from afar, no doubt making notes on players (and staff) who may feature in his plans. The Kiwi has been in daily contact with Root but is only due to arrive in the UK next month.

And, of course, there is that previous era. Even though it had run its course earlier than midway through this summer, Bazball’s compelling oscillations from brilliant to, at times, moronic will still be missed, if and when normalcy takes hold.

For what it is worth, there is a palpable sense of relief in the air that the story can move forward. Tuesday’s morning training session fizzed with a “pre-season” hum, with genuine excitement for what lies ahead. Root has urged the group to channel their enthusiasm for the next month, rather than get distracted by what lies ahead in South Africa this winter, or even further afield with next summer’s Ashes.

It is the right message given that England just need to win games again. An underwhelming Pakistan team, shorn of Babar Azam offers a grand opportunity for a first Test series win since the end of 2024.

A 2-1 series loss at home to New Zealand, and the 4-1 humiliation by Australia that preceded it – a result that was just this week put into uncomfortable context by Bangladesh’s professional victory in Darwin – has made the last nine months grossly uncomfortable for all involved, even for those who have only just joined the ride. The public’s ill-feeling will take a lot to be assuaged, given the manner of those defeats and the accompanying off-field missteps. Trust needs to be rebuilt.

“The only thing we can do to rectify that is be really good role-models, good human beings and put in really strong performances on the field,” Root said. “That does take time and the first opportunity to do that is this week.”

Root insists this time will be different; he is more comfortable in his own skin, more assured of his own batting. Otherwise he would not have been as willing to return to the Test captaincy. But he is now leading a side who, for better and worse, were bound by Stokes’ talismanic ways, until he lost the will to continue. Filling that void won’t be easy.

He’ll start, initially, with a relocation from first slip in a bid to assist his bowlers from arms’ length. “I might not be as dynamic as Ben at mid-off, but we’ll see if we can make it work.”

How he chooses to replicate the other, unquantifiable facets of Stokes’ inspirational leadership remains to be seen. For now, Dan Lawrence will try to fill in as a load-bearing allrounder. The rest is on Root.

“One of the big challenges is not trying to be Ben Stokes,” Root said. “He is a very unique player with unbelievable qualities that I don’t think are easy to replicate. I don’t think there is any point trying to. Understanding things have changed, it is going to have a slightly different look to it but that is okay.

“There has been a lot of good stuff that has happened in the past four years that will serve us really well. It is about not ripping it up, just fine-tuning and evolving that and taking that to the next level. He did a phenomenal job throughout his tenure and will go down as a brilliant Test player. We have got to find a way of evolving the team without him.”

It was at Headingley in 2017 that a suited-and-booted Root was first presented as Test captain. Nine years on, the boy-ish enthusiasm remains. Likewise, the ground’s capacity for seminal moments; from Stokes’ miracle in 2019, the Ashes comeback in 2023 and, of course, Bairstow’s soon-to-be-painted-over exploits.

This week could be the start of something new, and something better. It might not prove to be a performance that inspires a mural, but it could be essential if English Test cricket is to re-find its way.

Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at Cricinfo

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