Full info for England vs Pakistan First Test amid rain delays at Headingley

A new era for English Test cricket is underway in a clash against Pakistan at Headingley but bad weather is affecting their progress.

The three-match series against Babar Azam’s Shaheens is England’s first red ball outing since Ben Stokes retired and head coach Brendon McCullum was sacked.

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‘Bazball’ is officially over with Joe Root back as skipper and Marcus Trescothick serving as interim head coach before Stephen Fleming begins his full tenure in December.

England will hope to hit back from their last Test series as lost 2-1 to New Zealand earlier this summer, being heavily beaten in their last two matches as Stokes bowed out of international cricket with a whimper.

England’s Test players have had over a month off to regroup and are look to put a difficult few years behind them, starting in Leeds.

And they have made a fine start to the First Test, skittling Pakistan out for 171 on Day 1 with Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue both taking fivers.

Unfortunately, the match is being affected by rain despite the long, hot summer we’ve had in England.

A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms is in place for the second day of the match following a rain delay on Wednesday.

Dates and times for England v Pakistan

The first match of Pakistan’s summer tour of England is taking place from Wednesday, August 19 and run to Sunday, August 23, if needed.

The match is being held at Headingley in Leeds.

The first ball is scheduled to be bowled at 11am each day, depending on the weather.

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The action will be live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am each day while talkSPORT will have regular updates too.

The second Test will get underway at Lord’s on Thursday, August 27 before the third and final match takes place at Edgbaston from Wednesday, September 9.

England will then return to short form cricket on Tuesday, September 15 with a home T20 and ODI series against Sri Lanka.

Their next Test match will not be until mid-December when they face South Africa in Johannesburg under new boss Fleming.

Team news for England v Pakistan

England

• Ben Duckett
• Emilio Gay
• Jordan Cox
• Joe Root (c)
• Harry Brook
• Dan Lawrence
• Jamie Smith (wk)
• Ollie Robinson
• Gus Atkinson
• Jofra Archer
• Josh Tongue

Pakistan

• Azan Awais
• Imam-ul-Haq
• Shan Masood
• Abdullah Shafique
• Saud Shakeel
• Muhammad Rizwan (wk)
• Salman Ali Agha (c)
• Ali Usman
• Khurram Shahzad
• Mohammad Ali
• Muhammad Abbas

Toss: England won the toss and decided to field

Officials: Chris Gaffaney, Allahudien Paleker, Paul Reiffel, Ranjan Madugalle, James Middlebrook

Scorecard: Latest scores from Headingley here

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What has been said about England v Pakistan?

England’s men’s national selector Marcus North has explained this squad.

He said: “We have selected a squad for the first two Tests that balances rising talent with the experience needed against a quality Pakistan team.

“Sam Curran is a player of real value and interest in terms of that role. 

“He’s had a heavy summer workload and he’s been playing at the highest level with a number of niggles and we don’t feel he’s quite right at the moment for this Test squad.

“Rehan has done nothing wrong – he’s someone we highly regard. At this stage we felt that going in with what we see as our best six batters with Smudge [Jamie Smith] at seven is key. 

“That’s why Lawrence has got the nod at six.”

He added: “Stephen Fleming was involved in a lot of discussions. I think that was really important.

“Certainly from my perspective, as soon as he got appointed, I reached out and we had long conversations. 

“It was important that our selection reflects the strategy and thinking long term moving into the winter when Stephen takes over the team.”