NICK HOWSON: The runs flowed again for England at The Ageas Bowl as Zak Crawley stormed into the record books as Pakistan were made to sweat
For someone who is not naturally drawn to the public spotlight, Jos Buttler will not have minded having his day one efforts overshadowed by Zak Crawley's monstrous knock. Indeed, on any normal day the Kent man would have remained the central topic after he reached his double century - becoming the third youngest Englishman to reach the landmark behind Len Hutton and David Gower.
But day two belonged firmly to Buttler, who has gone from troubled figure to a celebrated one. Suddenly, all the faith shown in him by Ed Smith and James Taylor is paying off.
Mid-way through the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford, it felt like Buttler's Test career had reached the precipice. He had an awful time with the gloves, with dropped catches and missed stumpings. It had seemingly allowed Pakistan into a position of complete control.
As often with his white-ball career, it was on the counter-attack that brought about arguably his finest innings against the red-ball. Buttler hit 75 alongside Chris Woakes as England claimed a three-wicket win to subdue, if not silence, the doubters.
His innings in Southampton, straddled either side of the opening two days, was an altogether different knock but highlighted another side of his temperament. Granted, he did open the taps against Yasir Shah on Friday, but the manner in which he cruised to his second Test century showed a desire to grind away with the ball doing a little.
He faced more balls during this innings than during the rest of the series (and during the clashes with New Zealand and South Africa over the winter) and while you could argue that the match situation meant it was not played in a pressure-cooker, try telling Buttler - who was wondering if his Test career was over a fortnight ago - that this isn't an effort of consequence.
Ed Smith, at The Ageas Bowl for this Test, could be seen positively gleaming from the stands. This display was an endorsement of his entire selection ethos. Results-wise only two Test series have been lost in his tenure, but there have always been questions over whether individuals were being used in the right way. Those inquiries can probably go into drafts now.
Rain came and went on the second morning
For Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah, England's onslaught during the opening two days in Southampton would have brought back some bad memories.
In both of the Tests against Australia last November and December, the hosts only batted twice but went past 500 on both occasions.
Such was the punishment, it was enough to see Yasir dropped from the team entirely. While for Afridi and Shah, it was an insight into the harsh reality of cricket at this level.
This was another reminder.
In Brisbane, they were powerless to stop David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne from accumulating huge centuries. Steve Smith made perhaps the most remarkable score of the innings, registering just four. But that was a mere period of respite for the tourists.
Warner went again in Adelaide, scoring a rare triple century of 335 not out. Labuschagne also went to three figures. Yasir finished with figures of 32-1-197-0. It was a complete walkover.
Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler would have given this well-balanced Pakistan attack nightmares again. Just like the Australians did, the England pair took the game to the bowlers, attacking on the front foot and not allowed them to settle. It was almost cruel at times.
A word, however, for Nassem Shah, who was by far the most threatening of Pakistan's seamers. He was the only bowler to regularly test the fortitude of England's joint-sixth highest Test partnership. He probed at a line just outside off-stump, was consistent, and drew several missed strokes. He is not just a flashy quick, there is some character there too.
Eoin Morgan, England's white-ball captain, will have been an interested spectator as teenagers Afridi and Shah were bullied. They will likely lead the attack come the T20 series starting on Friday, yet have spent two days toiling with little success.
These are young men who will feel indestructible at this stage of their career, but this effort might take its toll mentally, as much as anything.
Zak Crawley punished Pakistan to reach his double century
If the reaction to the news before the Test that a day's play can now begin at 10:30am, if bad light or rain leads to a loss of overs said plenty about cricket's current status, then the response to the way umpires Michael Gough and Richard Illingworth responded to the intermittent rain on day two was proof they will never please everyone.
After starting on time, the players were taken off after 11:25am after a heavy shower. We resumed at 12:40pm, instead of an early lunch being taken - with the break pushed back to 2pm. Rather inevitably, we were back off 10 minutes later after more inclement weather.
A short 45-minute session before the first interval was possible, but it didn't stop onlookers questioning why such a truncated session was needed when two longer periods of play would have been possible.
It does feel as though the atmosphere around this series has changed, after just 134.3 overs were possible during the drawn second Test. And the umpires' desire to get play on, and not just resort to an early lunch reflected that. And fair play to them for that.
Unless we're asking for the officials to have a telepathic awareness of the weather forecast - you can have all the radars in the world but sometimes the conditions surprise you - we have to allow them some leeway. Gough and Illingworth wanted to get both teams out in the middle but the conditions didn't play ball.
They can't be criticised for that.
And as for an early start on day three, more rain means that's off the table.
An innings that has got the cricketing world talking. Granted, there isn't much else to discuss in the current climate, but this is a knock to sit up and take notice of regardless of the calendar.
Day two perhaps didn't include the fireworks of the opening exchanges; it was more about resilience and reliability. There was more evidence of his ability to dominate on the back foot, scoring runs both sides of the wicket. Pakistan were delighted to see the back of him after a fabulous 267.
It was a knock punctuated by records, milestones, and feats. Here is a selection of some of the eye-catching numbers during Crawley's epic stand.
Buttler and Crawley were imperious together
- The second-highest score by a maiden England centurion (Tip Foster, 287) and seventh-best by any Test player.
- Biggest score by a player out via a stumping
- The third youngest England double centurion (22 years 201 days)
- The highest score by a currently active England player
- Only Wally Hammond (223) has scored higher as an England No.3
- Second highest score by an England batsman v Pakistan (Denis Compton, 278)
- The 10th highest score by any England player and 64th of all time
- Len Hutton (364) is the only England player with a higher Test score while aged under 22
- England's highest ever fifth-wicket partnership
- The joint-sixth biggest partnership for any England wicket in Test history
- The fifth highest fifth-wicket partnership in Test history
- Highest partnership after first four batsmen were dismissed for scores below 30
- Biggest partnership in a home Test for England since 1965 (John Edrich and Ken Barrington, 369)
- The sixth-highest partnership for any wicket against Pakistan
- Best fifth-wicket stand against Pakistan by any nation
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