Pope pays tribute to England's 'two greedy Yorkshiremen', Root and Brook | Pakistan vs England 2024

Ollie Pope praised his team's “two greedy Yorkshiremen” for putting his side in a winning position after England – after Joe Root and Harry Brook reached a mammoth total of 823 for seven on days three and four – won over Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test in Multan.

“We knew we could go big if we fought like we knew how and we have two greedy Yorkshire men and they did just that,” Pope said. “Thank you for the skills you showed, but also for the fitness. The fact that we knew we needed a high score really pushed them towards those huge numbers and they deserve credit for putting us in a position to win that game. What they did was truly special. It's a great thing for us to keep going. We know that there are people throughout the Order who can achieve these huge results. We want to remember as a batting unit that different people will show up on another day.”

Root scored 262 points and Brook 317 points. Their partnership broke England's all-time record of 454, while England made Pakistan's first innings score of 556 look decidedly disappointing and took control of the game.

“We probably haven't realized what we've achieved there yet,” said Chris Woakes. “I was out there when we got to 800 and I just thought, 'That doesn't seem real, scoring 800 in a Test match.' “I've never seen us get anywhere close . We conceded 550 in the first innings and you think, 'God, they got a good score.' But they always say you can't tell what the pitch looks like until two teams have battled. You’re still disappointed that a team scored 550 points against you, but in hindsight they were underperforming.”

Playing his first away Test in two and a half years, Woakes was the most economical bowler on both sides and took two important wickets. “I didn’t think I would get another opportunity to do it. I had given up,” he said.

Having somehow conjured a result from a lifeless field, England will now hope to be served something different when the second Test begins at the same venue on Tuesday. “There was talk of green spaces, I don’t know what that was. It just kept getting better and better,” Woakes said. “The ball is firmly in their court. If it’s a home series and it’s only three games and you lose the first one, you want to believe the next two will be result wickets.”

The defeat continued Shan Masood's dismal record as Pakistan captain after suffering six matches and six defeats in almost a year as captain. “The harsh reality is that England have found a way and we haven’t,” he said. “After spending two days in the sun and being 556 runs behind, they initially took 10 wickets to give themselves a chance to go big and then when they came back with the ball they set their plans really well “So the harsh reality of Test cricket is that good teams will find a way regardless of the pitch and England have done that.”