Ben Stokes secures historic whitewash in Pakistan – but loses bet with Brendon McCullum
Ben Duckett spread his arms and high fived Ben Stokes and the small band of England fans sang Jingle Bells, bringing a hint of festive flavour to Karachi as the third Test ended with an historic clean sweep.
England needed just 38 minutes, 11.1 overs, to knock off the 55 runs required to win by eight wickets to become the first team to whitewash Pakistan in their own country. Ben Stokes made it nine wins out of 10, and three series victories in a row. Who remembers the England team that so recently only won once in 17 Tests? It must have been a bad dream.
Brendon McCullum has snapped them out of the torpor, breathed fresh life into the same players. “I do bugger all to be honest. It is a really easy job. Don’t tell my bosses,” he said. It was a task beyond many of his predecessors.
Almost exactly a year ago the England players were made to sit through video footage of their dismissals in the pink-ball Test hammering at Adelaide. It is impossible to imagine this regime dwelling on failure in such a tortuous way. “Like a completely different team, “ said Ollie Robinson.
They have scored 22 hundreds – an England record – by eight different players, hitting more sixes, 88, than any other team has managed before just a year after equalling their own record for the most ducks. England batted at 5.5 an over in this series, never before have they scored quicker than 3.7 away. No wonder the Barmy Army so lustily sang Jingle Bells to rhyme with the thrill of watching England win away.
England have nailed down players in positions: Ollie Pope at No 3, Harry Brook/Bairstow at No 5, Stokes at No 6. Duckett is heading in the right direction, having matured away from the England spotlight and goes to New Zealand with confidence of averaging 71 in Pakistan. “I’ve got the same shots now I had six years ago. But back then it was not really the way to play Test cricket. If I’m looking to survive then to be honest I’m pretty useless,” he said.
England won despite Joe Root’s form, he averaged 25, after years of leaning on the crutch of his batting. Instead another Yorkshireman, Harry Brook, broke records and launched a career becoming the first Englishman to score three hundreds in his first four Tests and broke David Gower’s record for the most runs in a series in Pakistan.
All but two England batsmen batted at a strike rate greater than 80, and the only note of failure was the look on Stokes’s face when an attempt to hit a six with five needed landed short of the rope. He was annoyed because he would have gone past McCullum’s record for six hitting.
The batting is the flag bearer for Bazball but the bowling too has been transformed. Under Stokes, 190 of 200 wickets have been taken. James Anderson has been reborn in the same year he was dropped and feared it was all over.
Robinson left Australia with his professionalism questioned publicly by the management but one chat with Stokes put him right last summer and he has responded with 21 wickets at 17.66 for his new captain.
He averaged 21 in the series; Anderson, of course he did, topped the averages with eight at 18.50. One footnote for Karachi: this was the first time since 2007 England had won without either Broad or Anderson in the XI.
England lack a world-class spinner but this regime cannot be blamed for English cricket’s inability to promote slow England lack a world class spinner but cannot be blamed for English cricket’s inability to promote slow bowling. Jack Leach is a tough competitor and brings a lot to the team environment while doing an honest job with the ball.
England selected Rehan Ahmed at just the right moment, although his development is a long project and the outcome far from certain but there is promise of rich rewards if handled properly.
“Rehan, gosh! Eighteen years old,” gushed Stokes. “It’s amazing to look at him and the confidence he has in himself and to have such a cricket-savvy brain, especially under Test-match pressure, was really good for us.”
