Salman Agha: 'England outplayed us in every department'

Pakistan's stand-in captain says they were not consistent enough in any department

There could, realistically, be no defence of the performance Pakistan put up over less than two full days of Test cricket, and their stand-in captain Salman Agha made no attempt to offer one. He accepted Pakistan had been "outplayed in every department" and that their Test form demonstrated they hadn't been playing well "anywhere in the world".

"Bowling, batting and fielding - England outplayed us," Agha said. "We were not consistent enough in any department. In England, consistency is important because there is lateral movement here, so you must be focused at all times. That was missing. And we think that missing consistency is what resulted in this performance."

In truth, Pakistan were consistently underwhelming, quite literally from the first ball, when Ollie Robinson trapped opener Azan Awais in front and set the tone for the Test. They were bowled out within 50 overs the first time around, and a lacklustre bowling and pedestrian fielding effort saw England amass what felt like an unassailable 238-run lead. It took England even less time to run through the visitors in their second innings, wrapping up a resounding innings victory. They were, as Agha put it, "better than Pakistan all three days".RelatedEngland seal three-day innings win

Even by Pakistan's lowly recent standards in Test cricket, the level of performance here was something of a stark reality check. None of the batters appeared to show a level of staying power at the crease that bodes well for the remainder of the series, and even the mitigation of Babar Azam's absence didn't feel like it assuaged those concerns. It took England 514 balls to take 20 Pakistan wickets; on only four instances have sides dismissed Pakistan quicker. To boot, Pakistan's seam bowling attack was every bit as one-paced as feared, while an especially dismal showing in the field deepened the pathos of this side.

Agha tried to account for it all by suggesting Pakistan didn't have enough time to acclimatise in England ahead of the tour. "An England tour is challenging for any Pakistan side," he said. "We came into it from completely different conditions. It's not like we came here a month ago; we only came here a week ago. You may have seen a gulf in these sides."He is our best batter and one of the best batters in the world. We definitely want to have him and hand him the captaincy"Salman Agha on Babar Azam

"But when any Asian team comes here, they struggle early on. These conditions are not such you can adapt to within a week. But we're trying, and you'll see in the next game we'll turn in a better performance."

Pakistan arrived in England 12 days before the first day in Headingley. In that time, they played a three-day practice game against a select XI in Beckenham, winning by seven wickets. Before the Test, Sarfaraz Ahmed had said Pakistan were feeling very confident and had "all bases covered with bat and ball".

None of that translated to what transpired at Headingley. It doomed Pakistan to their 14th Test defeat in their last 19 matches, and their ninth in the last ten away games. "We're not playing well away," Agha said. "We haven't done well anywhere in the world. This is concerning. We do talk about that in every meeting we have. Even outside of official team meetings. We are trying."Ali Usman picking up his maiden Test five-for was one positive for Pakistan from Leeds•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

The only silver lining came in the form of Babar's improving prognosis as he recovers from a finger injury, with Agha joking he was "more than happy" to return the captaincy to him after his tough induction to the role. "He's our best batter and one of the best batters in the world. We definitely want to have him and hand him the captaincy."

The gloom, though, returned as Agha spoke of Pakistan's limited options with their seam attack. The visitors went with three medium-fast bowlers, who often struggled to exploit helpful overhead conditions, and there were two big century stands in the England innings, producing a combined yield of 270 runs.

Pakistan's other seam options are Ubaid Shah and fast-bowling allrounder Aamer Jamal. Ubaid is the quickest bowler on the tour but lacks experience. He only made his debut against West Indies last month, though his average speeds were higher than anyone else in the Pakistan camp.

"If you have pace, it's good for any conditions. If someone can bowl 140-plus, you'll definitely add him to your team. We don't have bowlers who can hit 140 consistently."

On the evidence of Leeds, it is one of many things Pakistan don't have. And with the second Test at Lord's less than a week away, they're running out of road to conjure them up in time.