England’s New Pace Pack: A Threatening Quartet for the Future

The numbers scream for attention. Pakistan bundled out for 109 on the second day at Lord’s, England’s quicks hunting in a pack that looks nothing like the Anderson–Broad–Woakes–Stokes era, yet suddenly feels just as threatening.

Yes, the caveats come thick and fast. This Pakistan batting line-up is fragile. These are English pitches with life in them. But strip away the disclaimers and something important remains: forced into change by Ben Stokes’ retirement, England have stumbled upon a pace attack with teeth, variety and, crucially, room to grow.

A Quartet with Contrast, Not Clones

Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson. On paper, a mix of experience, promise and risk. On the field this summer, a unit.

Joe Root sensed it straight after the first-Test win at Headingley. His assessment was pointed: his quicks “do not know how good they can be.” For a captain who once leaned almost exclusively on right-arm seamers of a similar type – Anderson, Broad, Woakes, Stokes – that sounded like more than casual praise. He talked about variety, and you can see why.

The contrast is stark. At Lord’s, Archer thundered in at up to 95mph, the fastest opening burst of his career. At the other end, Robinson ambled in at around 78mph. Tongue, across the series, has actually clocked a higher average pace than Archer, while Archer has pushed a greater percentage of his deliveries beyond 90mph. Atkinson sits just behind them, a shade slower but far from gentle.

They are not four versions of the same bowler. They are a set of different questions asked at uncomfortable speeds.

Michael Vaughan likes what he sees. “It is a good attack,” he said. “They can all get better and that is a really good sign.” He did not spare Pakistan’s batters – “possibly the easiest I have seen to bowl to” – but he did not dismiss what England are building either. This group, he argued, will trouble stronger line-ups, including Australia, if they maintain this level.

Robinson the Metronome

Robinson is the outlier in the speed gun race, and it simply has not mattered. Four more wickets on Friday pushed him to 17 for the summer at a scarcely believable average of 8.84 across three Tests. He has been operating on lively decks, yes, but he has also been ruthless in exploiting them.

His strength is not pace, it is precision. Against Pakistan he has landed 70% of his deliveries on a good length. That is a suffocating figure. Atkinson, the next best, sits at 52%. Robinson’s spell on Friday bordered on cruel: 31 consecutive dot balls, 13 overs for just 11 runs – the most economical figures by a pace bowler sending down 10 overs or more in England for 13 years.

Vaughan’s verdict was simple: “Ollie Robinson is an extraordinarily skillful bowler.” England’s coaches want a touch more pace, a nudge towards 81mph on a more consistent basis. If he finds that extra gear, the suggestion is clear – he becomes a threat in all conditions, against all line-ups. For now, he has become the tone-setter England were “crying out for in the winter.”

Archer’s Angle, Tongue’s Stumps, Atkinson’s Support

Archer brings something no one else can replicate: that skiddy, hostile angle that torments left-handers. The numbers back the eye test. He averages 23.9 against southpaws, compared with 31.3 against right-handers. In a world where modern top orders are stacked with left-handers, that is gold dust.

Tongue and Atkinson flip that script. Their records are almost mirror images. Tongue averages 21.5 against right-handers but 35.7 against left-handers. Atkinson sits at 19.9 against right-handers and 31.7 against left-handers. It means England can mix and match, attack different sides of the bat, and plan around specific threats.

Tongue has emerged as the enforcer at the stumps. His position on the crease and his method give him a clear identity: he is a bowler who makes you play and makes you fear for your off pole and your toes. Across this series, 22% of his deliveries would have hit the stumps. At Headingley, where he took eight wickets in the first Test, that figure jumped to 29% – the highest by an England bowler in a home Test for 15 years.

The strike-rate tells its own story. After two more wickets on Friday, Tongue now takes a wicket every 39.8 balls. That places him 12th on the all-time list for bowlers with at least 30 Test wickets. Not bad for someone still being talked about as “the one who is really developing the best of them,” in Jonathan Agnew’s words.

Atkinson, meanwhile, has slipped almost quietly into this pack. Slightly down on raw pace compared with Tongue and Archer, he has still backed up Robinson’s relentlessness and Archer’s fire with his own control and threat. In a four-man unit, you need someone who can do the unfussy work while still prising out mistakes. He looks comfortable in that role.

Archer, for his part, has even joked he could play until he is 40 with this level of support, such is the way the workload is being shared.

Eyes on the Ashes

Strip it back and the context is clear. A home Ashes series is less than a year away. England, burned by the last campaign and determined to prioritise pace after that bruising Ashes defeat in Australia, have not just chased speed for speed’s sake. They have assembled a group that combines it with skill, angles, discipline and contrast.

Pakistan’s frail batting has offered a soft landing. English pitches have helped. Those truths will not be forgotten inside the dressing room. But Root’s words, Vaughan’s endorsement, the hard numbers on length, pace and strike-rate – they all point in the same direction.

This is not the finished article. It is something more tantalising for England: the start of a pace attack that could define the next era. The question now is not whether they can dismantle Pakistan at Lord’s.

It is how this quartet will look when Australia walk back through the Long Room.