Ollie Robinson leads England's winners after Test comeback

Ollie Robinson opened his first Test back with three wickets in an over, then closed his final bowling innings of the summer by taking two more in one over, with hardly a loose spell in between.

The 32-year-old had managed only one Test appearance in almost three years before this summer's recall. His skill was never in doubt; his fitness and work ethic were. Eight months ago, reflecting on where he had been, he put it plainly.

"I was nowhere near ready to play or anywhere near where I am now as a person, as a cricketer."

He added a 47-ball half-century at Edgbaston to the wickets. Sterner examinations, particularly overseas, still lie ahead, but it has been close to a perfect few months.

Joe Root's summer reads the other way. An unbeaten half-century in the final run chase at Edgbaston spared him his worst home summer with the bat, but a high score of 77 and an average of 33.5 sit well short of his career home average of 55.52. Only once has he finished a home summer with worse figures.

The detail behind those numbers is specific. Root has been out lbw eight times in 11 innings this summer, 73% of his dismissals, compared with 19 times in 147 innings, 13%, before this run. Wicketkeepers standing close have found a way through repeatedly. Root has spoken of working through the problem as a puzzle rather than a crisis.

"I always think that's the fun bit of it."

He remains captain, and results have held up well enough, but England's tactics looked uninspired at moments this summer, against New Zealand at the Oval and against Pakistan at Edgbaston.

Robinson now carries the burden of proving it abroad. Root, still captain and still searching for an answer to the lbw problem, takes an unresolved puzzle into the winter rather than a solved one.