Razaullah's Onslaught Exposes England's Weaknesses
England staggered into the pavilion at Edgbaston with a lead, a target they should chase in their sleep, and a headache that will linger far longer than this Test.
They need 130 to complete a 3-0 sweep over Pakistan. They should get them. What will be harder to shift is the image of a young No. 9, on debut, swinging them ragged while England’s tactics unravelled in front of a full house and a watching new regime.
Razaullah chaos exposes England’s soft underbelly
Razaullah walked in as a 21-year-old debutant at No. 9. He left with 81 from 63 balls, nine of them launched for six, and with England’s bowlers and brains scattered across the outfield.
His 121-run stand with Muhammad Abbas for the ninth wicket turned what should have been a routine closing act into a chaotic third-evening drama and dragged the game into a fourth day. Pakistan, who had looked buried, finished 453 all out. England, who had them eight down with the scores level, suddenly looked like the side clinging on.
Former captain Alastair Cook did not sugarcoat what he saw.
“No plan… out of control,” he told Test Match Special. That was his verdict on England’s response to a tailender with a license to swing and the power to back it up.
The numbers underline just how wild it became. Razaullah’s nine sixes equalled the record for the most in an innings by a batter on Test debut and matched Ben Stokes’ mark for the most in a Test in England. This was not a cameo. It was an onslaught.
Root’s second spell, same old questions
Joe Root’s second stint as captain was supposed to be calmer, wiser, more seasoned. Instead, familiar doubts resurfaced in the space of an hour.
England persisted with a short-ball plan as Razaullah and Abbas happily took on the hook and the pull with a packed boundary field. When the quicks finally went fuller, they repeatedly missed the stumps. When the second new ball arrived, Root made the decision that left even seasoned observers shaking their heads.
Dan Lawrence, a part-time off-spinner who had barely turned his arm over all series, took the new ball. Ollie Robinson, the summer’s standout seamer and the leader of this attack, watched on.
Jonathan Agnew, never one for hyperbole, called the tactics “appalling”.
“You cannot and should not bowl like that to tailenders as soon as they come in,” he said. “They are numbers nine and 10 for a reason. It was bitterly disappointing.
“Dan Lawrence is a part-time off-spinner and he took the second new-ball. If you're looking for any aspect of the day that is utterly bonkers, that is it.”
The pictures told their own story. Jofra Archer, usually ice-cool, wore the look of a man who had seen enough as Razaullah smoked him for back-to-back straight sixes. Gus Atkinson was, at one stage, asked to bang it in with eight men patrolling the rope. Root himself looked drained, frequently consulting senior players and at one point leaving the field to seek guidance from the backroom staff.
It didn’t help.
Leadership vacuum in the field
England are between eras in the dressing room as well as on the field. Marcus Trescothick is holding the reins as interim head coach, with Stephen Fleming not due to arrive until the tour of South Africa in December. Tim Southee, the bowling coach, spent part of the partnership on the boundary rope, trying to feed messages into a muddled plan.
Cook’s criticism cut in that direction too.
“That’s when you need the backroom staff and coaches to step up,” he said. “I would loved to have seen a message and some real leadership from the coaches.”
Michael Vaughan, another former captain, went for the fundamentals.
“We shouldn't be surprised by England, they've delivered tactically like this on a regular basis,” he said. “The basics of Test cricket generally work and that's to hit the top of the stumps. It's a bit of a warning sign that this attack is very good but they aren't the finished article just yet.
“Who are the characters in the team who are going to grab a hold of everyone and say, 'right, I'm going to make a moment'? I didn't see it from anyone today.”
That, more than the runs, will trouble England. When the game slipped, nobody seemed able to seize it back.
Trescothick defends, but admits regret
Trescothick fronted up afterwards. His tone was calm, but the frustration leaked through.
“We were in a position where they were eight down and the scores were level. We were hoping to go through them pretty quickly,” he said.
“We tried many different things. You have variations of plans. We bowled the short ball for a period of time, then length for a period of time, then a bit of spin. You're always chopping and changing, with various ideas.
“You'd always like to think you can do it better and you analyse it afterwards saying, 'right, was there an area or tactic we missed to get it right?' You hope in those situations when you bowl it in the right place, which we did on many occasions, that you get the nick or bowl them. Fair play, they played pretty well.”
In the end, it took something more routine to close the innings. Abbas feathered Josh Tongue to point, then Razaullah finally overbalanced and was stumped off Lawrence from the last ball of the day. The roar from England was relief as much as celebration.
A win likely, a warning unmistakable
England should still finish this job. A target of 130 on a surface that has not yet gone spiteful, with this batting line-up, ought to be well within reach. They remain heavy favourites to walk away with a 3-0 clean sweep.
But the third evening at Edgbaston has left a mark.
A raw 21-year-old at No. 9 exposed a lack of clarity, a shortage of on-field authority and a leadership structure still finding its voice. The new era under Root and, soon, Fleming will not be judged on whether they chase 130 on a Sunday morning in Birmingham.
It will be judged on whether days like this stop happening.
