Pakistan's futile search for positives after Dreadingley

22 Aug-Okay, folks, let's not get too introspective here. There are two Tests to go, and the series is still alive. True that it does mean two more opportunities for Pakistan fans to be put through the wringer by what looks to be one of the more abject sides to represent them in recent memory, but England aren't above shooting themselves in the foot, either (you might possibly recall the visit of New Zealand earlier this summer).

Firstly, in time-honoured cricket fashion, let's look at some of the positives. Pakistan prevented any of England's batters from scoring a hundred despite four reaching 50 - and notably deprived their nemesis, Harry Brook, from notching his first Test ton on his home ground (and his fifth against them). True, Brook still improved his average against Pakistan from 84.10 to 84.72, but that's basically just a rounding error.

The spinner, Ali Usman, took a five-for at Headingley, a venue that normally gives visiting slow bowlers the shortest of short shrifts (and he didn't need any funky fungus-based assistance, either). The attack as a whole didn't let England go galloping off into the distance, despite the strong foundation laid by the top order: from 356 for 5 and Brook eyeing three figures, they were wrapped up for the addition of 53 runs.

Some of that was down to Khurram Shahzad, who bowled a number of exceptionally good deliveries across England's innings. Okay, so none of them accounted for wickets, bar the dismissal of the No. 11 Josh Tongue, and they were vastly outweighed by the dross served up in between times. But he did also manage to persuade Joe Root to miss an innocuous straight one, which would be a really handy skill to hone over the next few weeks.

There were a few other crumbs of comfort. No one hurt themselves in the field (although that might be for want of trying). With two innings of nought not out, Mohammad Ali maintained his statistically unparalleled ascendency at the top of this list. A three-day finish also means two more days of rest and recuperation before Lord's, which is always handy with back-to-back Tests.

That, admittedly, does mean two more days in which to focus on the shortcomings of their batters. And it is when deliberating on Pakistan's flimsy efforts to put up a score that the temptation for self-flagellation begins to consume a nation.

Again, there is some mitigation. They were missing Babar Azam. They arrived in the UK straight from the Caribbean (where, in Port of Spain, they mustered enough to runs to win their first Test outside Asia since 2021) and, as is the way with modern tours, had just one warm-up match against a scratch XI to help them acclimatise. Their first innings at Headingley required them to deal with a fresh pitch and just the sort of conducive overheads that England would have desired after winning the toss at their most look-up-not-down venue.

Six of Pakistan's touring party have zero experience of playing first-class cricket in England. Despite a smattering of short-term county deals, the rest aside from Shan Masood and Mohammad Abbas have just a handful of appearances in these climes (even Babar has only played 11).

So attempting to Shawshank their way to freedom after conceding a 238-run deficit never looked likely. The openers were picked off by Jofra Archer purring in on a Test-match length after a rusty outing on day one. Abdullah Shafique, who showed he had the minerals to carve out runs in challenging circumstances in the first innings, got another fine ball from Ollie Robinson with the keeper up (even if his bat did come down a little crookedly). Masood, who timed his shots nicely enough in his hour at the crease to make you forget all the well-worn criticisms of his batting, got a pretty decent one from Tongue.

That won't stop the head-scratching for Pakistan supporters who had to watch Saud Shakeel, having pinged Tongue's third ball straight back down the ground, proceeded to lollipop his sixth airily into the paws of the lurking Dan Lawrence at wide-ish backward-ish of square-ish leg - a position so vague it would be almost impossible to pick it out if asked. Yet Shakeel (who in the first innings managed to not review the only umpiring decision in the whole Test that would have been overturned by technology) did so.

They would have groaned, too, at Mohammad Rizwan's (non) shepherding of the tail - although perhaps with a measure of understanding, given this was by now a lost cause. A single off the first delivery of Robinson's ninth over duly manifested a nick to the slip cordon from Shahzad very next ball.

Perhaps the saddest aspect of this defeat was the lack of reaction in the ground, where support for Pakistan was notably scarce - even in a part of the country where the British-Pakistani diaspora is famously strong (when England stepped in to host Pakistan's series against Australia in 2010, Headingley was one of two grounds chosen to stage a Test, alongside Lord's). Maybe the Tebbit test has finally been passed.

Still, as English cricket watchers would happily tell you, even after the grisliest of losses there's always gallows humour. Asked at the post-match press conference about Babar's injury and whether he was ready to hand back responsibility for the side, Pakistan's stand-in captain, Salman Agha, could not conceal his true feelings. "I'm more than happy to hand the captaincy back to Babar," he said, with something that approximated a guffaw. The rest of the room laughed along with him. If you don't, you might find yourself crying.Cricinfo