Matthew Henry
BBC Sport journalist at Headingley

Hello, hello. Is this snoozy start just in my head or part of the calmer, post-Bazball world? The crowd is drifting and players are wandering.

Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson have marked out their runs.

We've just had a bit of early confusion after Babar Azam, who we were told wasn't playing, emerged in his whites and blazer. Turns out he was just doing the pre-series photo shoot rather than the toss.

One change from the Bazball era comes in the fact that England have not named their XI several days in advance.

They will make Pakistan - and the rest of us - wait until the toss to learn who they'll be facing.

However, we do know that Jordan Cox is set to bat at number three with Jacob Bethell out injured, while Dan Lawrence returns two years on from his last Test appearance and will bat at six.

Given the summer we're having there should be no issues with the weather... oh, of course. Test cricket is back and so is the possibility of rain.

The forecast for Headingley isn't brilliant today but it's dry at the moment so fingers crossed it stays that way.

Fittingly, Headingley hosts Joe Root's first game back as skipper.

Pakistan are the opponents for this three-match series. They've also got a new, old Test captain after Babar Azam was re-appointed to the role in July.

However, the 31-year-old will not be involved in Leeds this week after taking a nasty blow to the hand in Pakistan's warm-up match at Beckenham last week.

Salman Agha will lead the tourists' in Babar's absence.

Image source, Getty Images

A new era begins.

Well, sort of...

The Bazball era is over with Brendon McCullum relieved of his red-ball duties and Ben Stokes calling time on his international career.

But it's not quite out with the old and in with the new as Joe Root returns for his second stint as Test captain, while Stephen Fleming is the latest former New Zealand skipper to take on the Test coaching role.

Fleming may have been appointed but he doesn't officially start until the South Africa series this winter, leaving Marcus Trescothick to step up in the interim.

So, there you go, you're all caught up - time for some actual cricket.