Joe Root celebrated a commanding start to his latest reign as England's Test captain, his side thumping Pakistan in Leeds and afterwards said Stephen Fleming has been in daily contact before he starts his role as head coach.
Fleming already invested
Fleming does not take up his position until after the series against Pakistan but has been in touch with Root during the week. "It's been great to have [him] on the end of the phone," said Root. "It's great that he's very invested already in what we're trying to achieve."
The pair have plenty to work with, as a victory margin of an innings and 103 runs attests, even if the tourists were remarkably poor across three days of play. Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue took eight wickets apiece while Jordan Cox and Dan Lawrence marked their returns to the XI with half-centuries.
Root praises bowlers and batters
"The quality that we have within the team and our bowling group – I don't really think they understand how good they are and how well they complement each other and in these conditions what they're capable of doing," said Root. "It's really nice for them to see that and to start the series like that."
"Jordan [Cox] at three looked very calm, very composed, very comfortable within his own game in those conditions. Great to see, great to bat with. Dan [Lawrence] as well, the way he dovetailed with [Harry Brook], played in his own way, was brilliant."
Headingley streak and Pakistan's captaincy question
The result made it seven consecutive Test victories at Headingley for England, a run that began with an innings win against Pakistan in 2018. It will be some time before they build on it, with the ground not hosting men's Test cricket in 2027 and 2028.
"I'd love to play as many games as possible here," said Root of his home venue. "It's a surface that provides brilliant Test cricket and one that we've had quite a lot of success in recently. So it's a shame that we don't get to play here next year. But I'm sure we'll see many, many more brilliant Test matches here."
Pakistan's misery was summed up by their stand-in captain's response to whether the injured Babar Azam will return to lead for the second Test at Lord's. "I'm more than happy to hand the captaincy to him," said Salman Ali Agha. "Hopefully he'll be fine. He's our best batter so we definitely want him and to hand him the captaincy."
