37th over: England 150-4 (Brook 49, Lawrence 2) Mohammad Abbas, still bowling with the keeper up to the stumps, thinks he’s got Brook LBW. Nasser Hussain thinks he heard two noises. Babar reviews but Nasser is soon proved right. Abbas beats Brook outside off, then beats him again! And again!! (Though the third one turns out to be a no-ball.)

Harry Brook, a world-class batter with his eye in, has edged two balls in this over and missed three. Fabulous stuff from Abbas.

36th over: England 149-4 (Brook 49, Lawrence 2) Razaullah, radiating confidence, draws a leading edge from Brook and a play-and-a-miss from Dan Lawrence.

Here’s Gary Naylor, picking up on Alasdair Gould’s remarks from the 22nd over. “It’s often said that you can’t compare eras in sport,” Gary begins, “but you can when it comes to bowling.

“For fast bowling, just see how far back Deryck Murray stood to Michael Holding and Wayne Daniel when Brian Close wore a few 50 years ago. Watch the ball swing late and you understand Waqar’s infamous toecrusher. Before SK Warne’s injury, the spin and bounce he got off the pitch away from footmarks was extravagant.

“Fielding is, of course, unrecognisably better today. With batting, it’s hard to tell, but it certainly took real cojones to get behind the line in the age before body armour and helmets.”

35th over: England 148-4 (Brook 48, Lawrence 2) Brook clips Abbas away for his umpteenth two. Abbas, with Ghazi standing up to the stumps, retorts by beating Brook with a beauty outside off. The commentators keep saying it’s a good pitch for batting, but it’s a good one for bowling too.

34th over: England 144-4 (Brook 45, Lawrence 1) Razaullah reportedly longed to be a cricketer as a boy but was told by his dad – who has eight other kids – that it was out of the question. After he’d captained his school teams for five years in a row, his dad wisely relented. His chances of captaining Pakistan, at this moment, look quite good.

31st over: England 129-3 (Gay 52, Brook 40) Back comes Mohammad Abbas, the man you call when you need to put the plug in. It works as Gay takes only a single, and plays and misses at a ball that’s far too good to take a wicket.

29th over: England 116-3 (Gay 40, Brook 40) Babar gives Mohammad Imran a sixth over, which goes for two singles and two byes. Meanwhile I’ve been doing some research on the firm of Gay & Brook. In the first four Tests of the summer, they didn’t bat together; at Lord’s, they added 23 in the second innings, when they both got 30-odd. So this partnership, now 77, is their first big one.

28th over: England 112-3 (Gay 39, Brook 39) Why is batting like dancing? Because it’s all about being light on your feet and keeping your balance. Why is it different? When you dance with someone, you have to be in time with each other. When you bat with someone, you don’t. Brook has been breezing along at a run a ball, Gay labouring at a run every two balls, but that makes a good partnership – contrasting styles, contrasting fields, bowlers having to play two different games in the same over.

27th over: England 111-3 (Gay 39, Brook 38) No change at the other end either as Mohammad Imran continues. He’s neither all that young (29) nor all that good, to go by his first-class average (nearly 35), or his white-ball averages (33 and 32), but he’s been decent here and now he beats Gay outside off.

26th over: England 107-3 (Gay 39, Brook 37) Brook starts this half-session with a comfy single to backward point off Mohammad Ali. Gay tucks the next ball for an even comfier two. Come on Pakistan, this is your chance! Three more wickets and you’re down to the tail. No more wickets tonight and you’re heading for a whitewash.

24th over: England 97-3 (Gay 32, Brook 35) A single to each batter as Mohammad Ali continues. Pakistan cricket is often described as a soap opera, but this attack is almost a rom-com: Three Mohammads and a Razaullah.

23rd over: England 95-3 (Gay 31, Brook 34) Brook can’t see a good ball without wanting to hit it for four. Gay, on the other hand, waits for the bad ball. Mohammad Imran dishes one up now, a half-volley outside off, and Gay caresses it to the Toblerone. But that’s the first four Imran has conceded and the rest of the over is all dots. He’s made a steady start to his Test career: 3-1-7-0.

22nd over: England 91-3 (Gay 27, Brook 34) Babar Azam, seeing the need to give Razaullah a breather, brings back Mohammad Ali. “I think there is a lot of unreal nostalgia about cricketers and cricket in the past,” says Alisdair Gould. “If you watch video of previous decades before 2000, the batsmen make more extravagant footwork. This makes me think: 1 bowling is faster, 2 bats are bigger, 3 the game moves more quickly now. With the heavy bats and split second decisions, players with a good hand to eye coordination score OK, until it suddenly starts failing. Brook is one such cavalier.”

Right on cue, Brook hurls his hands into a square drive and picks up another four. When Ali over-corrects, he glances for four more. And the partnership passes fifty – 52 off 10.1 overs.

21st over: England 83-3 (Gay 27, Brook 26) Just a bye off Mohammad Imran’s second over. All four seamers have bowled well. Pakistan’s problem, at the risk of stating the obvious, is that they have so few runs in the bank. This partnership (44) is already the highest of the day, putting the 26 by Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali in the shade. And the lead is a flimsy 50.

20th over: England 82-3 (Gay 27, Brook 26) Razaullah looks as if he’s going to keep on leaking runs as Brook flicks for a single and Gay plays a Cook-ish square drive for four. But then he finds the good length that featured in his first over, reels off four dots and almost has Gay caught behind. He looks the part, too: Mohammad Imran may be the one with the famous name, but there’s a touch of Imran Khan in the way Razaullah carrie shimself. If only Imran was here to see it.

19th over: England 77-3 (Gay 23, Brook 25) I don’t believe it. Mohammad Abbas is HAVING A REST. So, for now, it’s debutants at both ends. And Mohammad Imran almost takes a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket! It’s not as short as Brook thought and his under-edged cut very nearly leaves him playing on. Recovering his poise, Brook plays a dab for three, but it’s a pretty good start from Imran.

18th over: England 74-3 (Gay 23, Brook 22) After a sedate start by his standards, Harry Brook decides it’s time is for the counter-attack. He takes on Razaullah, whipping a full ball for four, pulling a long hop for four more, and adding an off-drive for three to motor to 22 off 22 balls. Gay, taking the hint, joins in with a steer for four past backward point. Fifteen off the over!

17th over: England 59-3 (Gay 19, Brook 11) Mo Abbas is still bowling. If that custard cream has worn off by now, he may be energised by the second coming of Waqar Younis at the other end. But it feels like one over too many as Brook clips for two and a single, and Gay punches past cover for his second boundary.

16th over: England 52-3 (Gay 15, Brook 8) As Razaullah continues, Gay again flirts with a run-out, but this time the shy misses and he ends up collecting three. Brook, more assured, picks up a couple of singles in the midwicket region.

15th over: England 47-3 (Gay 12, Brook 6) Brook, facing Abbas, plays his first Brookish shot, a crisp cut for three.

“Feedback on the Guardian cricket minute by minute page,” says Will. This doesn’t sound good. “The problem is that it is too slow - I just checked the score on Google and England are 39-3. The Guardian still shows the score as 39-2. And this is not a one-off. The BBC is also much quicker. Also, why does the Guardian keep showing wickets taken by the Pakistan bowler Muhammad Ali on the scorecard as ‘Dazy’? I don’t understand.”

Nor do I! The Guardian has a long and distinguished tradition of typos, but that doesn’t quite seem to account for turning Ali into Dazy. Maybe it’s Mohammad Ali’s third name?

The scorecard is automated, though I hasten to add that it might not be much better if we writers were in charge of it. You pay no money and you take your choice!

14th over: England 44-3 (Gay 12, Brook 3) After removing Root with his fifth ball, Razaullah drew an edge from Harry Brook with his sixth. Now, with his seventh, he floors Emilio Gay, who jabs down on a yorker and gets an inside edge into his knee. Ouch! Gay recovers to take a calm single but with his ninth ball, Razaullah nearly provokes a run-out, as Brook plays tip-and-run and Gay almost perishes to a direct hit from Shan Masood in the covers. It’s all happening!

13th over: England 42-3 (Gay 11, Brook 2) The indefatigable Abbas is still at it, restricting each batter to a single. He has a characteristic set of figures: 7-1-14-1.

12th over: England 40-3 (Gay 10, Brook 1) Say what you like about the Pakistan selectors, they’ve made a difference here. Razaullah has taken to Test cricket like a duck to a Pakistan scorecard. With a slingy action, an impeccable length and 90mph on the speed gun, he beat Root on his inside edge and made it look easy.

11th over: England 39-2 (Gay 10, Root 8) Mo Abbas continues, possibly fortified by a custard cream. His first ball after tea beats the bat of Emilio Gay, who needs a big score here to book his ticket for South Africa. It doesn’t have to be a hundred: when your opponents only manage 130, 60 or 70 becomes a big score. By the end of the over, Gay is into double figures with a handsome cover drive. That’s his first boundary today in 32 balls faced.

Meanwhile the middle stump is 250 years old. Tanya Aldred has the scoop.

Fun fact. England’s bowling averages in this series, to the nearest whole number: Ollie Robinson 7, Josh Tongue 12, Jofra Archer 18, Gus Atkinson 156. Sometimes, it’s an unfunny game. More details here.

9th over: England 35-2 (Gay 6, Root 8) Better from Gay, steering Abbas for two behind square. He has six off 26 balls while his three partners between them have collected 23 off 29. But then two of them are toast, and he is not.

8th over: England 32-2 (Gay 4, Root 7) Ali continues and struggles with his line, peppering the pads. Both batters respond in characteristic fashion: Gay manages a single with a glance to fine leg, then Root clips for two and on-drives for three. Even in a thin and testing summer, Root has hung onto his confidence.

7th over: England 26-2 (Gay 3, Root 2) That is exactly the way Joe Root has been getting out lately – eight LBWs in his last 11 innings. Now he starts well, with a punchy push into the covers for two, but is soon playing and missing. Nasser Hussain, in the commentary box, spots Root staying legside to avoid the LBW. The danger is that he then nicks off: there are three slips and a gully waiting behind the new keeper, the excellently named Ghazi Ghori.

6th over: England 24-1 (Gay 3, Cox 4) Cox begins Mohammad Ali’s over with a sliced square drive for two and a push for a single. Gay rounds it off with a steer into the covers for two. In between Ali tests Gay with a bouncer, given as a wide on grounds of height.

5th over: England 18-1 (Gay 1, Cox 1) In comes Jordan Cox, bearing a sense of purpose. He begins by getting his partner off the mark, calling Gay for a quick single. Next, facing his first ball, Cox sends Gay back as he looks for a leg-bye, but the throw goes for overthrows anyway, so that’s four leg-byes. Then Cox takes a single. And Gay gets squared up by Abbas, as he has been a few times. Well as Gay did with that composed fifty on his debut, Cox has mostly looked far more at home in Test cricket.

4th over: England 12-1 (Gay 0, Cox 0) Duckett had just hit his first shot of authority, a rasping square cut for four, but Ali had the last laugh.

3rd over: England 3-0 (Duckett 3, Gay 0) Mohammad Abbas bowls a maiden and again beats Gay with the nip-backer. He may be sniffing an LBW.

2nd over: England 3-0 (Duckett 3, Gay 0) Mohammad Ali shares the new ball, as expected, given that the other two seamers are debutants. Duckett plays an off-drive that looks good but turns out to be mistimed, going for two not four. Attempting a repeat, Duckett plays at thin air.

Meanwhile, Simon Burnton has filed a story you couldn’t make up.

1st over: England 1-0 (Duckett 1, Gay 0) Duckett dropped two catches earlier at first slip before managing to cling onto one. His innings gets off to a less eventful start with a push into the covers for a single. Abbas then beats Gay, but on the inside edge, not the outside one.

So Mohammad Abbas already has the ball after wielding the bat better than most. He has two left-handers to bowl at, Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay.

So England’s batters have 54 overs to see if they can forge a first-innings lead. “This is a brilliant, brilliant opportunity for them,” says Stuart Broad. But you never know – they might be all out in 34 overs too.

Thanks Taha and afternoon everyone. The Pakistan board ripped up their team and fired the coach, and sure enough, the team has collapsed even faster than usual.

Another bleak innings in a bleak series for Pakistan. And on that cheery note, I’ll hand over to Tim de Lisle.

33rd over: Pakistan 130-9 (Abbas 21, Ali 2) Abbas flicks Tongue down the leg side for four, then edges past the cordon for another boundary. This is Pakistan’s highest partnership of the innings!

32nd over: Pakistan 122-9 (Abbas 13, Ali 2) Ali takes a blow to the thigh pad from Archer, who then spears in a yorker at Abbas. The No 10 blocks and then bunts one for three.

31st over: Pakistan 118-9 (Abbas 10, Ali 1) By surviving 21 deliveries, Abbas has played the second-longest knock of the day. He cuts for four to make it to double figures, the third to get there this innings.

30th over: Pakistan 114-9 (Abbas 6, Ali 1) Jofra Archer is back in … and he’s left Mohammad Ali in an awful lot of pain, a yorker thudding into his right ankle. Ouuuuch. Time for the doc to do his work.

29th over: Pakistan 114-9 (Abbas 6, Ali 1) Abbas gets his bat down in time against a Tongue yorker.

28th over: Pakistan 113-9 (Abbas 6, Ali 0) Mohammad Abbas makes some room to wallop Ollie Robinson through the covers for four. A thunk over midwicket for two follows.

27th over: Pakistan 107-9 (Abbas 0, Ali 0) Tongue is chasing his fifth Test five-fer as Mohammad Ali survives five deliveries.

26th over: Pakistan 107-8 (Abbas 0, Shakeel 43) Mohammad Abbas does his job, seeing out a Robinson over.

25th over: Pakistan 107-8 (Abbas 0, Shakeel 43) Shakeel opts against a first-ball single before dabbing the ball behind point for four. Such a shame he’s had no real support this innings – he looks in such good touch. A clip for two follows, but he can’t nab a single to keep the strike against Robinson.

24th over: Pakistan 101-8 (Abbas 0, Shakeel 37) Robinson has started to hoop it past the right-handers. Saud Shakeel has the strike for the next over and I reckon he’ll give it a proper whack now.

Saud Shakeel’s batting average is up to 42.25 this series. Imam-ul-Haq, sent home, is second on Pakistan’s list with 21. Shakeel and Abdullah Shafique are the only ones to have reached 50. Grim, grim, grim.

Some lunchtime reading:

Brendan Large writes in:

I apologise but I have not been reading the whole OBO today (work and life is a pain). But I was wondering if this latest collapse is just bad batting/ great bowling/ or the ball jagging all over the shop again?

The answer’s a little boring, but it’s a mix of all those things.

England’s quicks have done it again, with two drops by Ben Duckett at first slip barely mattering. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s performative cull has not changed anything – as expected.

22nd over: Pakistan 92-7 (Razaullah 3, Shakeel 37) Ollie Robinson is back and averaging under seven with the ball this series. Leg-byes bring Pakistan four more precious runs. Razaullah survives.

21st over: Pakistan 86-7 (Razaullah 2, Shakeel 37) Razaullah punches for a couple down the ground – he’s playing just his ninth first-class match. He does have a hundred to his name.

20th over: Pakistan 82-6 (Imran 3, Shakeel 37) Imran clips Atkinson nicely for a couple and keeps the strike after a leg bye.

19th over: Pakistan 79-6 (Imran 1, Shakeel 37)

I can’t say I know all that much about Mohammad Imran, on debut and out there with Shakeel. With a first-class batting average of 26.52, he should improve Pakistan’s tail, which has folded so easily this series.

18th over: Pakistan 75-6 (Imran 1, Shakeel 34)

Afternoon to Mike Wiltsher:

Just tuned in: given the way the Pakistan squad have been treated the score is no real surprise. It’s still possible the tail may wag and England also collapse in a heap but, at the moment, even as a perennially disappointed England fan, it’s hard to take much joy from the scoreline.

There’s little joy here for anyone who cares about Test cricket.

Saud Shakeel continues to fight, playing on a different surface. He drives Atkinson through the covers for his fifth boundary. He’s less convincing with an uppish drive through gully, but Pakistan will welcome any runs.

17th over: Pakistan 64-6 (Imran 0, Saud 24) Pakistan haven’t got to 200 this series. Three figures could be a problem here.

Colum Fordham writes in:

Looks like the PCB are reaping what they’ve sown by slashing seven players from the team and two coaches: utter chaos.

Admittedly a fine four-pronged England seam attack spear-headed by Archer bowling in cloudy conditions makes for a tricky start for the Pakistani players but they look demoralised and their board’s decision is effectively blooding young, inexperienced players in a highly unfavourable environment.

The dismal Pakistan batting also makes the match a one-sides contest that does nothing to aid the fortunes of test cricket. Apart from that, a great first morning performance by England!

16th over: Pakistan 60-5 (Ghori 0, Shakeel 24) Shakeel drives Atkinson for four but then goes a bit too wild, inside-edging to the ropes. Ghazi Ghori is at the other end, on Test debut. It’s a horrible situation to come into as a 23-year-old. Shakeel continues to play his shots, nailing another cover drive.

14th over: Pakistan 43-4 (Babar 7, Shakeel 8) Babar doesn’t find the middle but still gets enough on the ball to locate the square-leg rope. Shakeel flashes hard outside off for an edge … and Duckett puts another down at first slip, unable to hold on with his right hand. This one was higher and tougher, but still gettable.

13th over: Pakistan 37-4 (Babar 2, Shakeel 7) There’s been a bit of rain around but we’re good to continue. Shakeel is lunging forward against Robinson … who decides to surprise the batter with a short ball. Shakeel pulls away for a couple.

12th over: Pakistan 35-4 (Babar 2, Shakeel 5) Babar played a cracking knock against New Zealand on this ground seven years ago in the World Cup, hitting an unbeaten ton in a successful chase of 238. Happier days. Gus Atkinson whizzes the ball past Babar’s outside edge on the way to a maiden.

11th over: Pakistan 35-4 (Babar 2, Shakeel 5) Robinson slides down the leg side and Smith, up to the stumps, isn’t getting that. It runs away for four byes. The catch off Masood was taken by Theo Wylie, by the way, a 20-year-old at Warwickshire.

10th over: Pakistan 29-4 (Babar 2, Shakeel 3) Saud Shakeel, so close to a ton at Lord’s, punches through mid-off for three. We’re one wicket away from the keeper on debut. Babar, bounced out by Archer in London, flashes outside off and only catches air.

9th over: Pakistan 26-3 (Babar 2, Masood 5) Five men make up England’s slip cordon … but Babar Azam clips into the leg-side for a couple.

8th over: Pakistan 24-2 (Shafique 3, Masood 5) Archer finds Masood’s outside edge … but the ball finds the gap in the cordon to run away for four.

7th over: Pakistan 18-2 (Shafique 2, Masood 0) Masood is playing his 50th Test – it’s taken him 13 years to get there. Robinson continues to toy with Shafique, the ball constantly threatening to brush the outside edge.

6th over: Pakistan 16-2 (Shafique 0, Masood 0) Shan Masood is hit first ball on the pad … it looks close to me but England aren’t going to review. Maybe sliding down leg.

5th over: Pakistan 13-1 (Shafique 0, Azan 9) Robinson looks dangerous with every ball, refusing to miss his spot. Azan, covering his stumps, can’t do anything about another delivery that jags extravagantly away from his bat.

4th over: Pakistan 13-1 (Shafique 0, Azan 9) Azan looks confident, driving Archer through the covers again for his second boundary. Archer then pulls back his length to jag the ball away from the southpaw.

3rd over: Pakistan 8-1 (Shafique 0, Azan 4) Abdullah Shafique is in at three for Pakistan, with Shan Masood dropping to four. Jamie Smith is up to the stumps … as Robinson bowls a corker, nipping it away from the right-hander. It’s a fine take from the keeper, too.

2nd over: Pakistan 8-0 (Ayub 0, Azan 4) Jofra Archer has two left-handers to play with as Azan, who battled hard at Lord’s, unfurls a lush drive through the covers to close the over, punishing a half volley.

1st over: Pakistan 4-0 (Ayub 0, Azan 0) A welcome start for Pakistan, with leg byes travelling down the leg-side for four. Robinson, on 99 Test wickets, beats the bat with one that jags away from the left-hander … before nipping one back in for the leg-before! And up goes the finger! Ayub looked to leave and is hit well outside the line … and it’s travelling well over the stumps. Robinson must wait a little longer for No 100.

The anthems have wrapped up. Time for Ollie Robinson to wobble the ball down. Saim Ayub is on strike.

Andrew Goudie writes in:

Winning this match would be maximum Pakistan ridiculousness. And who knows? England have a long history of ridiculousness too.

Saim Ayub has flown in from the Caribbean Premier League … to take on a new-ball duo of Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer. Ayub hasn’t played a first-class match since last October, hasn’t played a Test since January 2025. He’ll probably have to play a role with the ball, too, as Pakistan’s only spin option. Good luck to him.

The County Championship roars on. Tanya’s keeping tabs from Old Trafford.

There are some chilly white-ball games still to come this month and with it the sight of Kevin Pietersen back in England training kit for the first time in 12 years. KP is down with the kids these days, 6/7 memes and the like, and starts a new life as the “specialist mentor” to Harry Brook’s young thrusters.

But the final Test of the summer that starts at Edgbaston on Wednesday does feel like an end of sorts, or at least one last push before a breather for the side that has undergone the more significant recalibration. And that is before we get on to Pakistan and a tour that has descended into a bonfire of players and a phone-snatching investigation into “discipline and conduct”.

Here’s something I wrote on Pakistan. It’s been a tough watch.