The “Mad Professor” spins England to record breaking win

Pakistan v England, Multan — Day 5

Oct 11, 2024

The “Mad Professor” (centre in sunglasses) celebrates another record breaking win as England take the 1st Test in Multan by an innings and 47 runs. Picture courtesy of and with thanks to **www.skysports.com**

PAKISTAN 556 and 220
ENGLAND 823–7 declared

England win by an innings and 47 runs

I’d like to take the credit for bestowing the moniker of the “Mad Professor” upon the bespectacled England spin bowler Jack Leach but the honour, or otherwise, falls to my Social Affairs Editor Dr Horseman who, in a cricketing summer and a galaxy far, far away, nicknamed the 33 year old from Taunton who grabbed our sporting hearts and has refused to let go ever since. Jack will be fondly remembered forever more for his single run, stoic resistance and the constant cleaning and demisting of his glasses as Ben Stokes performed the “Miracle of Headingley” in 2019, however injury and illness have somewhat plagued his career in the subsequent years and, after yet another spell on the sidelines in recent times, I couldn’t be happier for him today. A quicker delivery that rapped into the pads of Salman Ali Agha finally ended his stout resistance when on 63 and 3 overs and 3 balls later, the Mad Professor sprawled full length across the wicket to take a brilliant return catch to dismiss Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah was stumped as he danced in vain down the wicket to the spinner, and England had another record setting victory to add to the voluminous records broken and shattered throughout this Test Match.

For every victor there must of course be a vanquished and Pakistan’s 3 year wait for a win on home soil continues. From supreme dominance on Day 1 and favourites come the end of Day 2, Joe Root and Harry Brook batted them out of the game on Days 3 and 4 and by the close of play last evening they were teetering on the brink of an embarrassing collapse that was only averted by the bloody minded determination of Salman Ali Agha and Aamir Jamal. A rather poor and dishevelled Pakistan are now winless in 11 matches at home and on a run of 6 consecutive defeats I can only see being extended to 8 come the end of this tour at the end of October, and, though everyone from coach Jason Gillespie through to captain Shan Masood will not thank anyone for reminding them, yet another record was broken in a Test Match already overflowing with them: No team in the history of the game has ever scored 500+ in the 1st innings of a Test Match and gone on to lose by an innings.

Until today.

This England team, under the revolutionary thinking of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, never needs a second invitation to ram home their advantage and grind their adversaries into the cricketing dust when the opportunity presents itself, and this they did today via a mad professor, last night through good collective bowling and scoreboard pressure, and on Days 3 and 4 when two of Yorkshire’s finest conspired to break as many records, personally and collectively, as they could. Stand in skipper Ollie Pope could laugh away his own failure with the bat as he gushed with post-match praise for the extraordinary performances of Joe Root and “Man of the Match” Harry Brook and a “massive credit to them” for putting England “in a position where we can have the chance of winning a game from conceding 500 in the first innings”. He further praised both their skills and fitness in the oppressive heat of Multan before concluding:

“I loved every bit of watching the two Yorkshiremen bat and what they did was seriously special, a joy to watch, and I’m very pleased for them”.

This 3 Test Match series resumes in Multan again in 5 days time and one hopes for a more balanced wicket offering assistance to both batsmen and bowlers alike and a more competitive Pakistan team, but time will tell.

It always does.