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One win in England’s last 17 Tests. Those were the numbers that greeted Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes when they took over in 2022, a reminder of just how bad things had ended under Joe Root. It was a statistic that gave the new boys permission to rip up the old order.

So it’s easy to forget that precious one. It was near the middle of that horror run, and it came at Headingley against India five years ago this month. The tourists were bowled out for 78 as Root reached three figures and celebrated his 27th victory as Test captain, a record among Englishmen. The Yorkshireman had to come home to find some breathing space.

Ollie Robinson was integral for Root back then, still in his first summer as an England cricketer and ending up as the player of the match. He remains that way. The pair are the only members of that XI playing against Pakistan this week, with Root back in Leeds to herald a new era. Robinson might not have been loved by the previous hierarchy, leading to two years in exile, but Root clearly rates him, picking him in 10 of the seamer’s 22 Tests. Never mind that he’s operating in the 70s (mph), he’ll deliver, as the bowling average tells you. With seven quicks in his squad for this series, Root decided that Robinson would bowl the first over of his second stint as captain.

“Ollie Robinson, when he’s fit and bowling at a decent pace for him, which is around 82-83 mph, he is world class,” said Rob Key back in May. He definitely looked the part when bowling a touch slower in the morning. With the very first ball of the series, clocking in at 76mph, Robinson wobbled it into Azan Awais from around the wicket, thumping the front pad and raising the umpire’s finger. To Shan Masood not long after it was over the wicket, at 79mph, an inswinger to show off Robinson’s range with the Dukes.

At six for two, Pakistan were in proper bother. This a side who few expect to make a serious splash this summer. They sit second last in the World Test Championship table and haven’t won a series away from home since 2023. Their captain and finest batter, Babar Azam, is injured. He caused a brief stir when he emerged before the toss in full whites, cap and blazer on, but it soon turned out that it was for a picture with his opposite number and the series trophy.

Was this going to be another 78 all out? Abdullah Shafique’s straight bat made sure Pakistan got off a little lighter. He emerged a few years ago as a prodigious talent, making his Test debut at 22 in just his fourth first-class match. He hit a ton against Australia a few months later and once batted for more than eight hours in Colombo to set up an innings win against Sri Lanka. The runs dried up for a time but another marathon knock at the start of the month against West Indies in Trinidad, an unbeaten 160, lifted the 26-year-old’s Test average back above 40.

Either side of a heavy shower on day one at Leeds, Shafique mixed resistance with style. There were gorgeous punches through mid-on and a shot off Robinson where he got all the equations right in his head, the angles inch-perfect as he middled the cover drive. It’s an odd quirk that Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel and Masood have all played for Yorkshire; this England side, with Root, Robinson and Harry Brook, trail them in terms of first-team White Rose representatives. With Shafique and Imam building a decent third-wicket stand, you could argue that it was two locals keeping Pakistan afloat.

Ultimately, it couldn’t save them as they folded from 97 for two to 171 all out in the space of 20 overs. Robinson continued nibbling away and Josh Tongue reminded the visitors what they lack on this tour, something they once built their reputation on: lethal pace to go with a stinging yorker. Shafique went for 61, undone by another wobbling Robinson delivery, ducking into the right-hander to smash the stumps, Jamie Smith up close to make life harder.

You can sense the shape of this match already and the rhythm of the next few weeks, too. Pakistan showed off their new-ball nous through Mohammad Abbas – their answer to Robinson – when he dismissed Ben Duckett. But an England lead beckons. It was, in so many ways, a fairly predictable day, ending with Root batting under the setting sun, home once again. An in-form Shafique was the one bit of light for a side up against it.