Root takes charge off the field and faces on-field test at Lord's

Joe Root will captain England for the 67th time in Test cricket against Pakistan in the second Test at Lord's, and on Tuesday at Lord's he addressed the media in the aftermath of the Brydon Carse controversy.

Behind the Compton Stand at Lord's hangs a large photograph of Ben Stokes delivering a bouncer to Mohammed Siraj from England's 22-run victory there last summer; Stokes contributed with the bat in both innings, ran out Rishabh Pant with a direct hit, produced a marathon bowling spell on the final day and attended the post-match media conference with blood seeping through his sock. During Stokes' captaincy the issue of who would replace him was ever-present, given his dominant role on and off the field, and England are now only a little more than a week into the post-Stokes era with Joe Root installed as the leader.

Root faced one immediate leadership test at the start of his second spell as captain with the Brydon Carse situation, but his measured, assured and honest media appearance at Lord's on Tuesday drew strong praise and was described in the article as the most impressive display of leadership from anyone connected with the England team in some time. With Brendon McCullum gone and his replacement Stephen Fleming not yet in place, Root currently stands as the undisputed figure in charge of the side.

The on-field challenge for Root remains substantial. He acknowledged before the Headingley Test that overcoming perceptions of his leadership was the biggest task on resuming the captaincy; his first tenure ended with only one win from 17 matches and a run that the piece described as leaving Root and his team broken. Leeds produced an innings victory over Pakistan inside three days, but that one-sided result did not provide much scope for Root to display what he might do as an on-field captain.

There have been early signs of different tactical choices. At Headingley Root moved from first slip to mid-off to be nearer his bowlers, and he removed Jofra Archer from the attack after two overs on the first morning. The article notes a statistical quirk: the dismissal of Azan Awais in Pakistan's second innings represented the eighth time a seamer under Root has had a catch taken at leg slip, the most of any captain since such data began being collected in 2006.

Members of the squad have commented on the change in demeanour under Root. Fast bowler Josh Tongue said: "It's very chilled out there." Root has also spoken about his pace battery, saying his quartet of fast bowlers "do not know how good they can be"; Jordan Cox impressed at number three at Leeds and is highly rated by management, and the article highlights potential selection congestion when Jacob Bethell returns to fitness with Cox, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence and Jamie Smith all vying for places. The piece also states: "It is a bad time for Carse to put himself out of the picture."

There are immediate stakes for the Test at Lord's: a win would deliver England their first series triumph since 2024. The Lord's pitch has attracted scrutiny after criticism following England's win against New Zealand, with Marylebone Cricket Club chairman Mark Nicholas and director of cricket Rob Lynch observed inspecting the surface; Pakistan are strengthened by the return of captain Babar Azam from a hand injury and have won the previous two Tests they have played at Lord's. England will seek to build on the "green shoots of recovery" that emerged in Leeds.

The second Test at Lord's offers Root the opportunity to back his off-field leadership with an on-field performance as he leads England for the 67th time in Test cricket, and, as the article concludes, for Root and his players "the fun side will simply be returning to playing cricket."