Michael Vaughan gave Jordan Cox his seal of approval as a “proper player” after his maiden half-century helped England take control of the first Rothesay Test against Pakistan.

England ran up a lead of 195 at Headingley, with four of their top six passing 50 as they closed a rain-shortened second day on 366 for eight.

The world’s number one batter Harry Brook was top-scorer with 91 off only 93 balls, captain Joe Root was typically assured for 66 and Dan Lawrence battled through a mixed innings to post 51 on his return to the side.

But it was Cox, promoted to the cornerstone position at number three in just his second appearance, who caught the eye of former skipper Vaughan.

The Essex man hit 73 in exactly 100 deliveries, hitting 14 boundaries and showing a useful ability to go up and down the gears.

Speaking on BBC Sport’s Test Match Special, Vaughan said: “Jordan Cox was my pick of the day. He just looked a player.

“He looks like he’s got all the time and he played two or three shots today that reminded me of (South African great) AB de Villiers.

“Those punches through the covers – and they’re decent balls he’s hitting – one or two clips through midwicket….he’s a proper player.”

Cox has had to wait for his opportunity on the highest stage, missing out on a scheduled debut in December 2024 after breaking a thumb in training and then seeing Jacob Bethell leapfrog him in the pecking order.

Now he has a second chance and appears ready to make the most of it, holding himself to even higher standards rather than settling for a strong first impression in the number three position.

“I think I let myself down a tiny bit but at the end of the day you take 70-odd don’t you? I’d have taken it at the start of the Test match,” he said.

“But it’s about trying to put put your foot through that door as much as possible and bang it down. Once I got to 50 I moved to 60 quite quickly and I was thinking ‘there’s a chance here if can keep being disciplined, keep going ball by ball’.

“I definitely had it back of my mind, saying ‘you’ve worked so hard, don’t give this opportunity up’. That’s exactly what I do in county cricket – basically look at the runs I need to score and work down from there.”

Cox suggested there was a collective feeling of a missed opportunity from those who got themselves in without killing the game off, but Pakistan are already in need of a huge turnaround to get themselves back in contention.

“Every team and every player wants to score Test hundreds and there’s four of us who got 50s today, so one of us could probably have kicked on,” he said.

“Instead of making just a hundred, let’s make it 150, 160, 170 and that puts us in a better position, definitely.

“I’m not (happy) quite yet! Hopefully we can get another 50 then we’ll get to our work with the ball.”