Headingley

For Root, the innings victory sealed inside three days against Pakistan was the ideal start to his second spell as captain.

It also extended England’s run of wins at Headingley, which began in 2018. Their longest winning streak at another ground is six at Chester-le-Street.

The decision for Headingley and Old Trafford to miss out on the 2027 Ashes roster was announced in 2023.

But the match allocation has once again come into focus after the schedule for next year’s series was confirmed in July.

Nottingham’s Trent Bridge will be the most northerly ground to host a men’s Ashes Test, with Southampton given an England-Australia Test for the first time. Headingley will instead play host to a women’s Ashes Test.

Headingley staged a men’s Ashes Test in 2019 and 2023, both matches England won. The 2019 win, inspired by Ben Stokes, was one of the most legendary contests in Ashes history, ranking alongside Ian Botham’s heroics of 1981 on the same ground.

Overall, England’s record of nine home Ashes wins in Leeds is bettered only by their 17 at The Oval, and The Oval has hosted 36 Ashes Tests compared to Headingley’s 26.

“I would love to play as many games as possible here,” said Root. “It’s a great Test-match venue, a surface that provides brilliant Test cricket, and one we’ve had quite a lot of success on recently.

“It’s a shame we don’t get to play here next year, but I’m sure we will see many, many more brilliant Test matches here.”

Headingley will next host a men’s Ashes Test in 2031, from when the England and Wales Cricket has said it will keep at least one Test in Leeds or Manchester in the allocation for every home Ashes series. Southampton will get a Test in alternate men’s home Ashes.

Much like it is a tradition for a footballer to take away the match ball after scoring a hat-trick, a bowler will pocket the cricket ball after claiming a five-wicket haul.

But what happens if two bowlers take five-wicket hauls in the same innings?

England seamers Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue came up with a solution after they snared five apiece on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan.

“Robbo said we can split the ball in half,” Tongue told Test Match Special. “The groundstaff have kindly done that.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen that happen. I’m sure I’ll be putting that up somewhere.”

Robinson showed off his half in a media conference and explained: “We were walking off the field.

“Josh said it and I said: ‘We actually should do that, it would be quite cool.’

“You don’t really have too many halves of a cricket ball, so it would be something that we never forget.”

The efforts of the pace-bowling duo helped Joe Root get off to an ideal start on the first day of his second stint as England Test captain.

Tongue claimed 5-46 and Robinson 5-51 to skittle Pakistan for 171 after England won the toss. The home side moved to 112-2 by the close in Leeds.

Tongue and Robinson are the first pair of England bowlers to register five-wicket hauls in the same Test innings since Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 2006.

They led England off the field at Headingley hand in hand, hatching their plan to make one ball into two halves.

“Wayne Bentley, the team manager, took it down to the groundstaff,” said Robinson.

“I said: ‘Do you reckon they will be able to do it?’ Within five minutes he brought it back up and it was done. It’s really nice.”

Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue both took five-wicket hauls to put England in early control of the opening Test against Pakistan at Headingley, as the home side closed on 112-2 at stumps on day one, just 59 runs behind the tourists’ first-innings total of 171.

READ MORE: Robinson & Tongue give Root an ideal start to England’s new era

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Australia made it four wins from four at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup after easing to a 113-run victory against Pakistan at Headingley, with the six-time winners on the verge of the semi-finals with one group match remaining.

READ MORE: Australia thrash Pakistan to edge closer to semis

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