England’s adventurous brand of Test cricket under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and the stewardship of head coach Brendon McCullum produced one of the greatest on-field moments for the Three Lions on Monday as they beat Pakistan by 74 runs in a field without Life after an exciting statement kept both teams in the game until the very end. The England batsmen might have had fun on the placid pitch, but defeating a talented line-up of Pakistan batsmen twice on a dead pitch was certainly an achievement.
Since that victory, a number of former England captains and cricketers have praised the team for their new brand of Test cricket and have also called Stokes’ captaincy one of the best they have seen in the longer format for a while.
There is now much talk about whether or not other teams will follow England’s brand of aggressive Test cricket.
Former England manager and a respected voice in cricket, David Lloyd, has written in his column in the The Daily Mail that India has all the tools to do the same, but the “stats driven” mentality of Indian batsmen could be a problem.
“It’s not totally new, of course. The Australia team of the 90s was very positive and the great West Indies teams were full of exciting hit makers.
“I think a team capable of this style now is India. They have all the tools. There has been a suspicion that Indian batsmen rely on statistics but Virat Kohli is one who could drive this forward,” Lloyd wrote.
He praised England’s attitude and for leading by example in terms of making Test cricket more exciting.
“Test cricket has to keep moving in this positive direction to keep pace with the white ball game.
“That is what England are doing in the most exciting way imaginable. What a statement Stokes has made by saying ‘I’m not interested in draws’.
“And this victory shows that he means it. Even in a field like that! What is fascinating now is how quickly other teams follow suit,” he added.
Featured video of the day
The fans of this team celebrated despite the loss to England in the World Cup
Topics mentioned in this article.
