England players enjoy a game of football on Day 1 of first Test against Pakistan; See clip
The English players were seen enjoying a game of football during Day 1 of the first Test match against Pakistan at the Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday
- SportFit
- 2 min read

The English players will be high on confidence as they lock horns against Pakistan in the first Test match at the Old Trafford in Manchester. The hosts come into this contest riding on an impressive 2-1 series win against the Test series that had preceded this series. As the English side look to register their third straight win in red-ball cricket, they decided to keep themselves active and energetic by indulging in a game of football possibly during the break.
'First attempt'
During the lunch or tea break on Day 1 of the first Test match, the English players including the likes of skipper Joe Root, pacers James Anderson, Mark Wood, wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler were seen enjoying a game of football. However, what really stood out here was that it was not a typical game of football but a 'Header' challenge where each of the participants could be seen executing the header perfectly without losing balance.
In the end, all of them could be seen giving hi-fives to each other and everyone also enjoyed a hearty laugh at the same time. The video was posted by the England Cricket on their official Twitter handle.
They did this first attempt... ⚽️😉
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 5, 2020
Match Centre: https://t.co/WLcJsk1Ddh#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/Ih4Rilvjz2
Babar Azam and Shan Masood rebuild for Pakistan
Coming back to the contest, Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the visitors lost two early wickets including that of Ali himself who was plumb in front of the wicket off Chris Woakes without troubling the scorers. With Pak reeling at 43/2, batting sensation Babar Azam opener Shan Masood rebuilt the innings with a 96-run stand for the third wicket. Masood remained unbeaten on 46 while Babar continued his splendid run with the bat and showed that his rhythm was not affected due to the long break as he scored yet another half-century (69) as Pakistan finished Day 1 on 139/2.
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Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer were the picks of the bowlers for England with one scalp each. James Anderson is yet to open his account in the wickets tally. Jimmy has 589 Test wickets and it remains to be seen whether the star pacer can near the 600-mark by the end of this Test match riding on some stellar bowling performances in both innings of the ongoing contest.