Former England captain Michael Vaughan and ex-Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja have voiced serious concern for the state of Pakistan cricket after a crushing innings-and-103-run defeat by England in the first Test at Headingley. Vaughan said he "really feared" for the side and felt "quite sad" watching a team once renowned for fearsome bowling look timid with both bat and ball, while Raja warned fans have become disenchanted after Pakistan's run of results. The defeat highlights a stark decline for a side that topped the Test rankings a decade ago and, in the 1980s and 90s, produced legends such as Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

Pakistan lasted just 85.4 overs across both innings and are now bottom of the World Test Championship, having lost 14 of their last 19 Tests and five of their last six. Stand-in captain Salman Agha said he was "more than happy" to hand the captaincy back to the injured Babar Azam, the side's only top-25 ranked Test batter, for the second Test at Lord's on Thursday. Raja attributed the malaise to a reliance on spin-friendly home pitches and a shortage of pace bowlers such as Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, arguing the focus on T20 cricket has undermined Pakistan's traditional pace-bowling strength.