Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue shared the wickets and later split the match ball as they came together to put Pakistan to the sword at Headingley.
The pace pair took five wickets each as the tourists were knocked over for an under-powered 171 on day one of England’s latest new era under returning captain Joe Root.
Root was unbeaten on 37 at the close as the hosts reached 112 for two at stumps, squeezing the deficit to just 59, but the plaudits belonged his seamers.
open image in galleryRobinson kicked things off with an lbw off the first ball of morning and was first to celebrate his five-for, while Tongue polished off the lower order and finished with marginally better figures of five for 46.
The pair left the field raising each other’s arms aloft and the comradeship continued when it came to deciding who would take the prized souvenir home. Between them, they decided to cut it down the middle and sent the Dukes ball down to the groundstaff to be sawed in two.
Showing off the newly-sliced ball at his post-match press conference, Robinson said: “I’ve got it here in my pocket if you want to see it.
“As we were walking off Tonguey said, ‘I think we should split it’. I was like, ‘yeah, we should actually do that, I think it’d be quite cool’. I said ‘do you reckon they’ll be able to do it?’ and within five minutes they brought it back up and it was done.
“It’s one of those things that you don’t really have too many halves of….half a cricket ball. It’s something we’ll never forget really and it’s not too often two guys get five in the same innings, so it’s a nice gesture and something to remember.”
There was a feeling of deja vu as Robinson tore through the Pakistan top order, having previously done so in the first Test of the summer against New Zealand, when he picked up a career-best seven-wicket haul.
That was his first appearance for England in over two-and-a-half years, an absence that owed more to concerns over his conditioning than his ability to make things happen.
His hopes of building on that momentum were halted by a knee complaint that ruled him out of the next Test and he was then overlooked for the series decider at Trent Bridge – a defeat that ended in Ben Stokes’ shock retirement.
While English cricket has been scrambling to pick up the pieces – sacking Brendon McCullum as red-ball coach, hiring Stephen Fleming in his place and persuading Root to return as skipper – Robinson has been working away behind the scenes.
open image in galleryThe aim now is to make sure he does not miss out again.
“It was frustrating not to be able to play at The Oval, it was just a bit of a freak training injury and then I was available for Trent Bridge but not selected,” he reflected.
“I was ready to go but I suppose that’s part of professional sport, isn’t it? I’ve just worked really hard on a bit more fitness and a bit more skill, so it’s nice when it comes off on days like today.
“I’ve been working with the England medical team quite closely over the last five or six weeks. We’ve made some really good strides. We’re obviously not done yet but I’m feeling really good.
“I’ve put a lot of work in over the past six weeks and hopefully now that I can cement my place in the team and the squad for as long as possible.”