of the prevailing conditions. It's the same conversation that brought one final, fleeting delay to the union seen at Headingley, as Hazlewood missed the first Test because he was still building up his workload and then Pattinson the second because he was still a little stiff and sore from Edgbaston.

James Pattinson was fired up after dismissing Ben Stokes Getty Images

At the end of day one, England having pushed past the Australians for 179 thanks to more of the singular brilliance of Jofra Archer, this whole long saga looked momentarily as though it might have come to nought. One of history's many lessons is that nothing is ever guaranteed, no matter how much effort has gone into the planning. But in the course of 27.5 overs, 26.5 of thembowled by Hazlewood, Pattinson and Cummins, the fruits of near enough to a decade were seen in vivid definition.

The precision of Hazlewood, drawing edges out of Jason Roy, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. The hostility of Cummins, hitting Rory Burns on the body and then bouncing him out, then doing similar to Chris Woakes and Archer. And the speed and aggression of Pattinson - has any team ever boasted a better third seamer? - provoking edges from Ben Stokes and Joe Denly after they had been probed and tested by the other members of the trio. It was brutal, it was gripping, it was far, far too much for England.

There was some happenstance about it all, namely in the state of the Headingley pitch. Having worked so hard