Pakistan v England: Tourists' toil with the ball as important as batting records

England are 158 runs up of Pakistan, who lone person 3 first-innings wickets remaining

After the sledgehammer comes the scalpel.

In Test cricket, runs are for amusement and wickets are for dough.

It is each precise good slapping stacks and stacks of runs, breaking capable records to marque Roy Castle arrogant (ask your parents, kids), but that counts for small if you don't really triumph the match.

On a sapping Saturday successful Rawalpindi, with the prima precocious and the transportation sleeping, England's tireless effort to instrumentality 7 Pakistan wickets was conscionable arsenic important arsenic the staggering 506-4 they piled up connected time one.

• England onslaught precocious to instrumentality power of archetypal Test
• England combat hard to permission Pakistan 499-7 - arsenic it happened
• Hundred worthy 'a batch more' than £400m - ECB chair

"We've got a skipper successful Ben Stokes and manager successful Brendon McCullum that don't privation draws. We're not playing for draws," said James Anderson earlier the Test.

"With the shot we're trying to instrumentality wickets. The skipper and manager person made that rather clear. Every clip you tally successful to vessel it's astir taking wickets. It's not astir controlling the run-rate, it's astir however we're going to get 20 wickets."

Which is an admirable aim, but overmuch harder to enactment into signifier erstwhile you see England picked a squad with conscionable 3 frontline bowlers successful Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Jack Leach, and an all-rounder skipper Stokes who has lone sent down 7 of 136 overs.

They enactment their religion successful the part-time rotation of Joe Root, Liam Livingstone and Will Jacks, men with first-class bowling averages of 49, 36 and 53 respectively - and Livingstone couldn't vessel due to the fact that of a genu injury.

It is simply a program England person tried earlier successful the sub-continent, with hardly immoderate success. Ian Blackwell, Samit Patel and Zafar Ansari to sanction a few.

In the lack of heavy reserves of spin, precocious gait could person been utilized to coax a effect from the docile surface, but Mark Wood was injured and Jamie Overton overlooked.

On much than 1 occasion, Robinson had the pace, oregon deficiency of it, for reserve wicketkeeper Ollie Pope to basal up to the stumps.

And yet, connected a crushed whose estimation for draws is matched lone by Ikea, successful a state wherever England person drawn 18 of their erstwhile 24 Tests, they took the wickets that person acceptable them connected people for different landmark triumph successful the Stokes-McCullum era.

In March, an Australia onslaught of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Cameron Green took lone 4 wickets successful a Rawalpindi Test - and 1 of those was a tally out.

For England to instrumentality 7 successful a time is testament to their determination, perseverance and creativity.

"All the hard enactment we enactment in, we got our conscionable rewards," said Root. "We had to beryllium rather creative, effort to bash things otherwise and deliberation extracurricular the box."

The bowlers ne'er bushed nor erred. Stokes manipulated and manoeuvred his field. Batters were seldom abbreviated of institution from catchers - five, six oregon adjacent seven.

Robinson was held backmost until 90 minutes had passed successful the greeting session. Anderson was not seen for astir 2 hours. When the 2nd caller shot was available, it was shared by the rotation of Leach and Root.

Late successful the day, Anderson was rewarded for coming astir the wicket by Mohammad Rizwan's spot to mid-wicket.

At 1 stage, Root shined the shot connected the bald caput of Leach successful the anticipation the sweat would nutrient immoderate benignant of question successful the air.

"You've got to get immoderate moisture successful it somehow, immoderate value to effort to get it to determination astir connected a placid wicket similar that," added Root.

"A bully sweaty, bald caput similar Jack's is cleanable for it. You tin spot it sat determination connected his head. He's much than conscionable a beauteous look Jack, helium is precise utile successful tons of ways."

England's ingenuity was summed up by the occurrence of Jacks, the Surrey off-spinner who lone recovered retired helium was making his Test debut 2 minutes earlier helium was handed his cap, and started the lucifer with conscionable 21 first-class wickets to his name.

In the 3 Test wickets helium took connected Saturday, helium got a archetypal successful Pakistan adjacent earlier the large Anderson, removing a antheral with 3 hundreds from 8 Tests successful Abdullah Shafique, past got the large scalp of Babar Azam, the skipper who Pakistan fans notation to arsenic 'the King' and had made 136 disconnected 168 balls.

"The connection to maine is to effort to instrumentality wickets, nary substance what the tract is, to effort to vessel my champion shot arsenic overmuch arsenic possible," said Jacks.

The designer of it each was Stokes, who led with a grin that infected the remainder of his team. Never has a time of hard yakka been made to look truthful overmuch fun.

Stokes and McCullum person worked hard to guarantee playing for England is the astir enjoyable acquisition it tin perchance be.

The pre-series grooming campy successful Abu Dhabi included a travel to the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the players are acceptable for a vacation successful Queenstown earlier 2 Tests successful McCullum's autochthonal New Zealand aboriginal adjacent year.

"When you're doing that with guys you cognize and who you're friends with, it makes it easier," added Jacks.

"That's the situation Stokes and McCullum person been building. It's a squad you privation to play for. On days similar today, if you're not choky arsenic a unit, they could beryllium 500-2."

This caller England broadside mightiness person built its estimation connected batting brilliance, but it is the displacement successful mentality successful the tract that is conscionable arsenic important.

Always hunting the adjacent scalp done tactical trickery, fluid fields and a emotion of hard work.

Runs for show, wickets for dough.

England could beryllium astir to currency in.