Stokes and McCullum — Viva la revolution!
Pakistan v England — Karachi, Day 4.
Pakistan v England — Karachi, Day 4.
Commencing this morning’s play on 112–2 and needing a further 55 runs for victory, captain Ben Stokes took his overnight not out total of 10 to 35 and Ben Duckett galloped from his 50 not out overnight total to 82, and England won this 3rd and final Test Match of their Pakistan tour in Karachi by 8 wickets.
Those are your perfunctory statistics.
What’s rather more remarkable is the 3–0 whitewash series win on Pakistani soil and 3 Test Match wins out of just 5 all time in the history of the game, and the first since the infamously glorious win in the pitch dark of Karachi 20 years ago. When you also include the staggering statistic of 9 Test Match wins out of 10 since the teaming of McCullum the coach and Stokes his able skipper, it would seem their cricketing revolution is spinning in an otherworldly direction.
I’ve penned a phrase in these daily cricketing diaries that goes something like I’ve watched Test Match cricket my entire life and I’ve never seen anything like this before, and I haven’t. Nor have I seen an England cricket team so exciting to watch since perhaps the glorious Ashes winners of that ridiculous summer of 2005. They now have a wealth of opening batsmen options to partner Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope is “Mr Number 3”, legendary ex skipper Joe Root a mainstay at 4, Harry Brook must’ve guaranteed the number 5 batting slot before captain Ben Stokes at 6 and then they have three, arguably four wicketkeepers vying constantly for a place in the starting XI including Jonny Bairstow who lest we forget, was England’s star man throughout their touring defeats of Australia and the West Indies.
For so many years it seemed as though the vaunted “Number 1 spinner” of the team was a somewhat poisoned chalice and so it’s somewhat beautifully ironic that a self proclaimed and nicknamed “Nutter” would drink from this cricketing vessel and under the laughter and smiles of captain Ben Stokes, Jack Leach has blossomed and bloomed into a thing of wonder. Fitness and age permitting, Leach is brilliantly in bloom and set for a course direction from cult hero to something much, much more. He has competition, and a possible heir, but Rehan Ahmed is a mere teenager, but with Stokes and McCullum in his corner, he has the perfect kidlike cheerleaders that will allow his sporting talent to thrive.
My only concern is in the fast bowling department. Despite his personal statistics (and Glenn McGrath like repetitive accuracy) Ollie Robinson isn’t a long term answer, Mark Wood (may the cricketing Gods bless him) is 32 and I hope The Ashes battle with Australia this summer is the start of a glorious swansong for him, and I worry for the long term absence of Jofra Archer. Broad and Anderson, England’s firm of cricketing sounding solicitors are both on the precipice of retirement but then again, they have seemingly always been on the brink of ending their international careers, and these are strangely wonderful times under those cricketing revolutionaries Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
My day-by-day recaps are normally top heavy with events on the field whilst hopefully painting a picture of the cricket fanatic peering out from beneath a pile of warming duvets and supping a hearty brew against the cold, dark and bleak outside of an English winter.
But not today.
England strolled to yet another record breaking, record setting astonishing victory, and I was rather more interested in the after match interviews of the revolutionaries. I picked out two telling statements, one from each man, each a telling clarion call to the world wide sport around them. In relation to the incredible debut of teenager Rehan Ahmed, Ben Stokes smiled broadly whilst stating his remarkable achievement “takes you back to when you were a kid” and Brendon McCullum remarked on the squad as a whole that they want to “make a significant difference to the game world wide”.
There in a nutshell, you have the revolution.
I’ve long stated that Stokes and McCullum appear to me to be two big cricket loving kids who just want to play the game they grew up loving. Sure these two cricketing mates are blessed with incredible talent, but they want to see others around them flourish. See Jack Leach, even ex captain Joe Root or evergreen Jimmy Anderson for evidence of this, let alone a teenager or the belief instilled in various opening batsmen or Ollie Pope or now, Harry Brook. “Express their talent” is a repeated mantra of Stokes in particular.
Of course it’s much, much more than that but I have no wish to delve into the murky waters of preparation, professionalism, dedication, respect and honour. Today’s after match mantra was “taking away the fear of failure” but it’s much more than that too. Stokes and McCullum seemingly want smiles on faces, laughter and the expression of talent in their revolution. No draws thank you, we’re English! Playing the game and stretching a pun intended boundary to defeat in order to win. A childish desire to win, to hit boundary sixes for fun, up the run rate to astonishing unheard of levels, setting markers for future opponents, setting attacking fields, having the courage to change these attacking fields to unorthodox ones, throwing the ball to a legend or a teenager, a workhorse or a self confessed nutter, imbuing in these characters a sense of being on the precipice of a glorious win, but it’s all our fault, Ben and Brendon, if it all goes wrong. And it will and it has, but only once hence far. There have been nine glorious victories that far outweigh this one loss in a revolution for the very future of the grand old game.
It’s a lofty ideal for sure, wanting to “make a significant difference to the game world wide” but Test Match cricket has two kids at the heart of its English revolution, and I couldn’t be more excited or pleased.
Be gone the days of surrender to Scott Boland in Melbourne or watching Travis Head, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne batting all day under a blazing Adelaide sun as we all shivered against a freezing December winter. No more humiliations of a rudderless team collapsing to defeat against an ordinary, average West Indies.
There’s a revolution underway. Kiwi born Stokes and McCullum take their charges down under to New Zealand for two Test Matches, the first of which starts on my birthday (Hooray!), then a warm up match with Ireland before our cousins from Australia come visiting with a precious little urn of Ashes that I rather fancy a couple of cricketing kids would love to get their hands on.
Viva la revolution!
Afterword
England’s faithful touring army of supporters are known as the “Barmy Army” and among their ranks of raucous, rambunctious and supremely dedicated cricket fans is a trumpeter who serenades the team at the start of every day’s play and can often be found trumpeting a song for each player or a barbed tune at an opposition player or laughable mistake in the field.
This morning, their faithful trumpeter (I’m sure he used to be a man named Billy but I seem to recall he’s passed his torch, sorry trumpet, to someone else) started the day’s play with “Ghost Town” by 1980’s band The Specials, in tribute to lead singer Terry Hall.
“Ghost Town” by The Specials and “Embarrassment” by Madness were the first two singles/records I ever bought, and both have a huge place in my musical heart.
Rest In Peace Mr Hall.
Thanks for reading. Please see the cave of wonders that is my archival lists here. The “Cricket” folder contains England’s recent tours of Australia and the West Indies as well as this tour of Pakistan or alternatively, please see the links below to the opening three days of this third and final Test Match:
Teenager spins England to the brink of another historic victory
Pakistan v England — Karachi, Day 3.medium.com
Brook century edges England ahead in another thriller in Pakistan
Pakistan v England — Karachi, Day 2.medium.com
England on top as wickets tumble in Karachi
Pakistan v England — Karachi, Day 1.medium.com