Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have changed Test cricket: ENG vs PAK
Pat Cummins and Australia will be having “sleepless nights” after England scored 500-plus in just 75 overs on the first day of the Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan
England red-ball captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum both the cricketers will both be remembered. As the combination changed how we play and think about Test match cricket.
According to former England skipper Michael Vaughan. Nasser Hussain, another former England captain, said that it was amazing to see what could happen when the team management removes the “fear of failure” from players’ minds.
After this Pat Cummins and his Australia team will be having “sleepless nights” after England scored 500-plus in just 75 overs on the first day of the Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan.
Other teams will have to be honest about what England is doing. They are trying to change Test cricket. It’s not like they’ve done it once and then struggled for three games. They had one blip but otherwise, it’s been consistently excellent.
It is still early days of course, but I expect England to continue this way, and I think we will be talking about this period in years to come. We will look back on it and see Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum being the dual combination that changed Test match cricket the way it is played, and the way we think about it.
I’ve not known a captain in my time, watching or playing the game, to have had such an impact on a team. Look at where the England team was before. One win in 17, thrashed in Australia playing cricket opposite to this.
‘First Test team to encourage risk-taking’: ENG vs PAK
Vaughan said that even though the Rawalpindi pitch was flat, England has to be commended for scoring at a fast tempo without resorting to slogs. According to Vaughan, England’s approach had brought risk-taking into Test cricket, as opposed to the risk-averse traditional way of playing the five-day game.
“This was an incredibly flat pitch and an inexperienced Pakistan bowling attack. Pakistan is the best team in the world at bowling on flat wickets, taking 22 yards out of the equation. England was just too much. It was not reckless, it was good, strong cricket shots.”
Watch them play these shots: ENG vs PAK
This is are we would have considered in the fast pace cricket. These are not risky to them. Because they are so conditioned to it from white-ball cricket: paddles, dancing down, reverse sweeps.
From Fearful to Fearless: ENG vs PAK
The players were fearful in the past time, but this England team had been able to play like nothing mattered. It changes the mindset and the intent of the player as we are growing and seeing as a team. The team has been evolving in a good manner where the captain and coach can remove the fear of failure.
“It’s the scenario sportsmen dream about. To convince yourself that none of it matters when you know, deep down, that it does. Also, treat a role, you’ve spent your life working towards as if it’s just another day at the office. To imagine representing your country is like a knockabout in the park.
