England skipper Ben Stokes was jubilant and deemed it “a great time to be playing for England” as he revives the love for the sport with an incredible 3-0 Test series whitewash over Pakistan in Pakistan.
Not once did England lose the grip of any of the three Tests played in Rawalpindi, Multan and Karachi, posting comprehensive wins on each occasion while continuing their ultraggressive ways with the bat in hand, regularly going above 6 runs an over to ruffle a Pakistani side missing their spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi due to an injury.
For all the limelight hogged by the batting unit approaching in high-end strike rates not seen by a collective set of players for any team in modern-day cricket, however, it was the bowling that gave England the edge, with James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood and Jack Leach handsomely outperforming their Pakistani counterparts.
Stokes had multiple heroes to pinpoint after the triumph and thus decided to talk instead about the feeling of winning successively with such command and control in the subcontinent, historically a challenge too big for England.
He also stressed on the feel-good nature of a remarkable run that has seen three lions win nine of their ten Tests since Stokes took over at the start of the summer along with head coach Brendon McCullum.
“[We are] just going out and enjoying every moment we can, whatever situation we find ourselves in. The first Test pitch [in Rawalpindi] was very, very flat and we just said, ‘enjoy the flatness boys – let’s just enjoy this challenge and see what we can do.’ We’ve had Jimmy Anderson smiling, which is an impressive thing in and of itself down on the field,”
Stokes was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“It is a great time to be in this dressing room and a great time to be playing for England. I’m just encouraging everyone to turn up every day and enjoy what you’re doing. Obviously, it is easier to do when we are winning the way we are at the moment.”
For Stokes, who not so long from now took a mental health leave from the game, not enjoying its rigours the previous summer, with constant cricket and shuffling around bubbles taking a toll on him, the key to England’s revival, and subsequently his own resurgence, has been releasing the fear of failure around the group. Something McCullum is given immense credit for.
McCullum and Stokes have combined seamlessly to instill a sense of fun about the game of cricket into players, which has given wings to flourish to the likes of Harry Brook, who top-scored on the trip, and comeback man Ben Duckett at the top.
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But also debutant Rehan Ahmed, the 18-year-old wristspinner, who took a five-fer in the critical third-innings to tilt the scales decisively in his team’s favour.
“When you take that burden off individuals and the team, you see players excelling and showing more within themselves. The ambition to win and play an entertaining brand of cricket, that over-rides any fear of failure.”
“You just accept [that] getting out is part of batting. I think just releasing that fear of failure is why we’ve produced the results,”
Stokes added.
Despite their late revival, England lost the race to bag the World Test Championship (WTC) final spot. But if the ‘Bazball’ can withstand the challenges ahead – an Ashes the next summer and a stiff India trip in early 2024 – Stokes’ men will be firm favourites to make the marquee summit-clash at home come the summer of 2025.
