LEEDS, England (AP) — England’s all-seam attack has captain Joe Root stoked about what more they can achieve after swatting aside Pakistan in the first test at Headingley on Friday.England won by an innings and 103 runs inside three days. Pakistan was bowled out for 171 and 135 against England’s 409.Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue took eight wickets each, Jofra Archer grabbed three on Friday, and Gus Atkinson one. Batting allrounder Dan Lawrence bowled one over of off-spin, a maiden, to break up the barrage of seam on a fair pitch.Robinson, in his first test since June, and Archer played together in a test for the first time. They handled the new ball.Tongue and Atkinson won the Hundred for Manchester Super Giants in the final last Sunday and had only one day of training for the test.The in-and-out Robinson has played the most tests, 22, and Atkinson the least, 13. If they can all stay fit — always a big if — the home Ashes series against Australia is less than a year away.
“It’s very exciting because I still think they don’t know how good they are yet and what they’re capable of, and I think that’s a great place to be when you can put in performances like that,” Root said.“An attack with that kind of variety, different things to call upon at different times in the game ... and as well the fact they bowled well in partnerships.”
