Ben Stokes' first aim as England Test captain is to help his players forget what has gone on in the past as they look to move on from a miserable run.
England have won only one of their past 17 Test matches and are winless in five series, leading to skipper Joe Root stepping down last month.
Superstar all-rounder Stokes was appointed in Root's place and now has the task of getting the team back on track.
He starts without a head coach, with Stokes acknowledging on Wednesday – as he addressed the media as captain for the first time – there has been "a lot of speculation and a lot of names".
The Durham man is "sure" he will have a role in that appointment, but for now the focus is on the "huge honour" of leading his country in a first Test against New Zealand at Lord's at the start of June.
"That [poor form] is obvious and something that we can't shy away from," Stokes said.
"One thing I feel like I've got to do is to get everyone not focusing on what's gone on in the past. We want to turn it around, so it's all about the future and what we've got ahead of us.
"In my opinion, that starts now and obviously on June 2, when we play that first Test match. If anything, it's a clean slate, and we can't live on what's gone on in the past.
"The simple saying I always try to live by is that you're only as good as your next game. That works very well with success and with failure as well."
Stuart Broad and James Anderson will be back for that match having been dropped under Root.
"You pick your best 11 players," Stokes explained, "and if Stuart Broad and James Anderson are fit, they're definitely part of that."
But how will he go about lifting the rest of the team? Stokes was reluctant to discuss his qualities as a captain, saying: "That would be talking about myself too much, which I don't like doing."
He did suggest a recent break from cricket to look after his mental wellbeing gave him crucial insight, though.
"I see it especially as a positive in the role I'm in now, because I've got a lot of experiences that I can look back on, good and bad," Stokes said.
He added: "Being a captain's not just about focusing on what goes on between 11 o'clock and six o'clock. It's a job that continues after those hours."
Brook has everything to become England's 'best ever', says Anderson
Harry Brook has all the attributes needed to become England's best ever batter after his sensational knock against Pakistan, so says James Anderson.
Brook became the first England batter in 34 years to score a triple-century when his side thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in their first Test of the three-match series.
In the same Test, Root scored 262, and in doing so he passed Alastair Cook's previous England best of 12,472 career runs, placing him fifth on the all-time list.
Brook's career-best knock of 317 took him to 1,875 runs in 19 Tests and 31 innings ahead of the second encounter in Multan that starts on Monday.
The 25-year-old has a chance to become the fastest Englishman to 2,000 Test runs, beating the 22 matches and 33 innings of Herbert Sutcliffe in 1928.
And Anderson, who is England's all-time leading wicket taker in Test matches, showered praise on Brook, likening him to Kevin Pietersen.
"He's on the way to being in the top three that I've played with," Anderson said on his Tailenders podcast.
"It's Root, Pietersen and him. He's definitely got all the attributes to overtake them.
"He's just got everything. Without trying to big him up too much because he's still really early in his Test career.
"I do think that he's got the perfect amount of each of those two and that's what will make him the best that we've ever had."
Pietersen scored 8,181 runs when his 104-Test career ended in 2014, 170 fewer than Brook has managed after 19 Tests as a comparison.
England's stunning 823-7 declared was their highest total in Test cricket since 1938 as they took a 1-0 series lead against Pakistan on Friday.
The 556 England conceded in Pakistan’s first innings was the highest total any team had overturned to then go on and earn an innings victory.
Brook and Root shared a partnership of 454, England’s highest of all time for any wicket and the fourth-highest by any Test pair.
"The thing that's really similar between Joe and Harry is that they love batting," said Anderson. "They literally couldn't care less what format it is. They just want to bat.
"They want to have fun doing it. As much as Harry's the younger player and will be learning loads from Rooty, I still think Rooty learns from him as well.
"Joe's one of those sorts of players that wants to keep developing and bettering himself, and he does watch other players and try to add bits to his game.
"I'm sure he's doing that with Harry."
Stokes could return for England’s second Test against Pakistan, hints Pope
England stand-in captain Ollie Pope has hinted that Ben Stokes could return to the team for their second Test match against Pakistan in Multan, starting on Tuesday.
With Stokes still nursing a hamstring injury, England cruised to an emphatic innings victory against Pakistan at the same venue in the opener, inspired by the brilliant batting performances of Harry Brook (317) and Joe Root (262).
The win by an innings and 47 runs, which came early on the fifth day, saw the tourists become the first team in Test cricket history to concede more than 500 runs in the first innings but still end up winning the match by an innings.
Asked about team news for the second of the three Tests on the tour, Pope let slip that Stokes could be involved.
“I don’t know. I'm actually not 100 per cent sure,” he added.
“He's been training really well this week. He's as keen as ever to get playing again, so fingers crossed he's all good.”
Pope has deputised as England captain after full-time skipper Stokes suffered a hamstring injury in August which saw him miss the home Test series against Sri Lanka.
The 33-year-old was included in the England squad for the Pakistan tour and was expected to return for the first Test, but failed to recover in time as the visitors scripted cricketing history in Multan.
Record-breaking Root is England's 'greatest ever', says Pope
Ollie Pope labelled Joe Root as England's "greatest ever batter" after the former Test captain helped inspire England to an emphatic win over Pakistan.
Jack Leach took the three wickets England required on day five for the record-breaking innings and 47-run triumph, which handed the tourists a 1-0 lead in their three-match series.
The win saw England become the first team in Test history to concede over 500 in the first innings, and still end up winning by an innings.
The turnaround was built on Harry Brook (317) and Root (262), as England amassed 823-7 before stand-in captain Pope declared, their highest total since 1938 and the fourth-highest in Test cricket history.
In the process, Root moved onto 12,664 runs in the longest format, seeing him surpass Alastair Cook (12,472) as England's all-time leading Test run scorer.
"What a player. I admire his consistency and longevity," Pope said of Root.
"I think he is playing his best ever cricket. When he gets on a hot run, he makes it count, and he is England's greatest-ever batter.
"He is a joy to be around in the changing room."
While Root tallied up his highest Test score, Brook became the sixth England player to score a triple-century.
Together, Root and Brook surpassed England's previous record partnership of 409 runs – set by Colin Cowdrey and Peter May against the West Indies in 1957.
When Root, who is now England's record run scorer in Tests, eventually fell, it brought an end to a partnership of 454 - the fourth-highest in the history of the longest format.
"From a personal point you want to put in those scores that's always the case for a batter, but it was a joy to watch the way Joe and Harry played," Pope said.
"Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley were awesome too – it was a joy to watch, and they're great players."
On the other hand, it was another humiliating defeat for Pakistan, who are enduring one of the worst periods in their history.
Pakistan are now winless in their last 11 Test matches on home soil, but captain Shan Masood said England's impressive display is something his side can learn from.
"Like I said, 220 in the third innings, depending on what kind of lead you have, can also be a good score," Masood said.
"The trick for us is that we should learn from England as well, they found out ways to get those 20 wickets. You can't win Test matches without taking 20 wickets.
"As a team, we have that second innings of batting to improve, but we must also take 20 wickets."
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