In the recent few years, England's test side was going through thick and thin. They weren't able to win any test series, not even in their backyard. But in the last few days or weeks, the story has been completely changed as the English side whitewashed the Kiwis in a three-match test series. And also a one-off test at Edgbaston against India last week. This has all happened after the inclusion of Brendon Mccullum as their coach who completely changed the mindset of the inventors of the game.
It was only a year ago when England went conservatively for a draw chasing 273 in 75 overs against New Zealand and they ended up on 170/3. New leadership has completely changed the way England played or used to think as a Test cricket nation as they chased down 299 runs in just 50 overs at Trent Bridge against the same opposition. The entire coaching staff resigned after the ashes debacle and after the loss with the West Indies. Skipper Joe Root also relinquished himself from the test captaincy. There was a need for change in the mindset so the ECB appointed Baz as their coach and Stokes as their new skipper. More than the change in personnel, the change in attitude and mindset was the need of the hour for the English Test side.
The new approach :
In the first test at Lord's England was impressive with their bowling as they completely sealed the match before joe root was at the rescue again as England chased down a 270+ total in the fourth innings. The 'Ben-Baz' era became more evident in the second game when England kept coming back at the Kiwis despite conceding a mammoth 553-run score in the first innings. With some late flourish, New Zealand set a slightly daunting target of 299 runs in 72 overs for England to chase, at a run rate of little over 4.
Everyone's memories jogged back to the Lord's Test between the two sides last year when the situation was similar as England needed 273 runs to win in 75 overs. However, they scored just 170/3 in 70 overs and many slammed them for their conservative approach. Fast forward 12 months and they have the fastest fourth innings total in a successful chase. The stakes were as high as they could and especially doing that on a Day 5 track needs guts. Jonny Bairstow and Stokes with a 179-run stand of just 121 balls blew away New Zealand to help their side chase down the total in just 50 overs. It was as good an example of a shift in approach and mindset as it could get as England sealed their first series win under Stokes and McCullum. The same happened against the Indian side, the Indian team put a target of 378 on the board. Once again the English batters batted with the same approach as they chased down the target pretty easily. Joe Root and Jhonny Bairstow both scored centuries and chased down the target.
McCullum started trending as soon as England won the match. Many greats of the game lauded the team's mindset. The fans too couldn't keep calm as many are now excited to see if the start is like this, what will happen to England cricket in a year's time when they face arch-rivals Australia in an Ashes series at home.
