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The Sunday Stat: England’s seamers took 20 wickets in the Headingley Test. Pakistan’s pace bowlers took five. It was only the fourth time in their last 600 Tests, since July 1974, that England’s pace attack has exceeded their opponents’ tally by 15 wickets or more (they did so in two Tests against Bangladesh in 2005, and one versus West Indies in 2009).For the 10th time in their last 12 series, England have won the first Test, with a clinical demolition of a dismal Pakistan team, who looked fragile on paper before the match, and even more brittle once that paper had been filled in with the Headingley scorecard. The chasm between the two teams was especially vast in pace bowling. England’s seamers combined for 20 wickets for 296 runs. Pakistan’s managed a somewhat flattering five for 300, one of the biggest statistical gulfs between two teams’ seam attacks in any Test, when taking into account total wickets and collective average. Ollie Robinson, who became the first bowler ever to take a wicket with the first ball of a series in England, has now taken 15 for 157 in his two Tests since a prolonged exile precipitated by two wicketless, fitness-blighted, Tests. In all, in his 12 home Tests, Robinson has taken 65 wickets, average 18, his tally matching the best 12-Test home sequences of Jimmy Anderson (65 at 15, from July 2017 to August 2018), as well as Stuart Broad (65 at 21.1, July 2011 to July 2013). Since Ian Botham’s wicket-laden early years, the only players with more wickets in a 12-Test sequence in England are overseas bowlers – 1980s Australian Terry Alderman, and all-time greats Richard Hadlee, Malcolm Marshall, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. The Sussex bowler is keeping mighty company. In Robinson’s home Tests, England’s other frontline seamers have averaged 24. In the 23 home Tests he has missed since his 2021 debut, England’s seamers average 30. These numbers could be interpreted as follows: (a) Robinson has been historically outstanding, and helps the other bowlers in the team thrive through his relentless craft and accuracy; (b) Robinson has been outstanding, but has also benefitted from missing matches on flatter pitches and against stronger teams; (c) both (a) and (b). It would be advisable to wait 12 months before announcing your verdict. Robinson’s fitness and form looks to be one of the most important factors in England’s series in South Africa this coming winter, and next summer’s Ashes. He had a decent recent run against Australia – 21 wickets at 26.9 – but has never taken four in an innings or made a decisive impact on a Test. Pakistan’s seam “attack” was an unhelpful combination of plodding and wayward, in line with their recent overall form. It is almost five years since Pakistan won a Test in which their seamers took more wickets than their spinners (before which, their pace bowlers had taken more wickets than the spinners in 12 of their 14 Test wins, from 2017 to November 2021). In their most recent five victories, their seamers have taken a total of nine wickets, their spinners 90. Since 2022, Pakistan’s seamers collectively average 36.3, the lowest figure of the nine regular Test-playing sides. Opposition seamers against Pakistan in this period have averaged 27.9. In terms of disparity between pace-bowling stats for and against (Pakistan’s seamers average 8.4 runs per wicket – as a ratio, 30% – more than their opponents), they are ahead only of Bangladesh, whose seam attack has recently been on a significant upward curve, whereas Pakistan’s are somewhere near the bottom of a bobsled run. Of course, these numbers reveal something of Pakistan’s batting struggles as well as the long-term bluntness of their pace bowling. Sign up to newsletters from The Observer View more For information about how The Observer protects your data, read our Privacy Policy However, even if the seemingly dormant talent production line was functioning, and the selection was less bizarre, and the competing priorities of short-form cricket were not guzzling the marrow of the Test game, it would be difficult for Pakistan to thrive overseas. Their trickle of sporadic engagements means that even seasoned players have minimal relevant experience, and therefore no chance to generate form. As a result, the current team is hampered by a cocktail of a lack of youth, a lack of experience, insufficient depth in batting and bowling, and a deep-seated lack of confidence in their ability to win. If Pakistan want some statistical succour before the Lord’s Test on Thursday, they can look at England’s dismal recent records (a) in second Tests of series (won three, lost seven in their last 10); and (b) in their next Test after bowling out their opponents twice in a combined total of fewer than 90 overs. Headingley was the third time in their last six Tests, and seventh in the last 10 years, that England had taken less than a day’s scheduled overs to dismiss their opponents twice. Five times out of the previous six they have lost their following Test match, including twice in the past eight months. If Pakistan can add to this list with a Lord’s victory – a ground on which spinners have collectively taken an average of three wickets per Test since 2018 – it will be one of the most extraordinary recoveries by any touring team in England. Photograph by Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images