Few scenes could have summed up the chaotic energy of this England dressing-room better than the one that took place on the third night of the final Test in Karachi.
With an hour and a quarter to go, and 167 runs needed for a 3-0 clean sweep of Pakistan, Ben Stokes told anyone who would listen that he wanted victory before nightfall – and insisted he would go out there and hit sixes that is in itself. It takes teammates to point out that he’s not even stuffed.
Instead, England had to wait until 38 minutes into the fourth morning for Ben Duckett to hit the winning runs. Fittingly, the man who walked over from the other end to wrap him in a grateful hug was Stokes.
Ben Stokes and Ben Duckett saw England home as they completed their whitewash of Pakistan
Stokes has transformed England’s Test team since serving as captain in April
However, regardless of the route England took in their resounding eight-wicket victory, this ninth win in 10 – taking them to an unprecedented clean sweep of Pakistan – suggests a deadly method to the madness .
It comes a year to the day since Jos Buttler led a futile rearguard in Adelaide, scoring 26 in just over four hours as England went down 2-0 in Australia en route to a 4-0 pain
Here in Karachi, they knocked off their target in 28.1 overs – the equivalent of under a session – to secure one of the best results in their Test history. Pakistan once went 19 years while losing just one game at home. They lost just three in less than a month.
England’s strategy is very different from the one that failed in the Ashes last winter
The contrast to last winter’s team was stumbling from one disaster to another, repeatedly telling their fans that they were about to turn a corner, it was almost impossible to know where to start.
But it said that, with four runs needed on Tuesday, Stokes tried to hit Abrar Ahmed for a six that would have given him a Test record 108 – one more than Brendon McCullum, the man who helped him restore the English game, and possibly Test cricket, at its head. He had to live with both.
Times have really changed. Not so long ago, it was the job of an England captain to explain another disgrace down under. Today, he lamented his failure to get a whitewash with six.
Asked about McCullum and the record, Stokes said: ‘He’s been on my shoulder for a while now, every time I go out to bat. It will stay there for a few more months. I try there, but I keep clicking on it. I mean I have to go to the gym.’
Stokes is now trying to overtake Brendon McCullum as Test cricket’s top six hitter
England resumed on the fourth morning at 112 for two, needing just 55 more to secure their place in the record books. It’s a question of when, not if.
The answer came at 10.38am, as Duckett smashed Mohammad Wasim through the covers to finish on 82 off 78 balls and complete a superb series in which he passed 50 four times and made his case for a starting place in the Ashes XI next summer.
Even Duckett, however, could not match the feats of Harry Brook, who was named player of both the match and the series for his three centuries. Playing only because Jonny Bairstow broke his leg on the golf course, Brook quickly assumed the mantle of England’s next great Test batsman.
Even in a dressing-room where the captain and coach do not want to be brought, the excitement of his talent is palpable.
Brook’s 12 sixes in the series are one less than the rest of his teammates combined, but one of the many impressive aspects of this side is how they all find their own way to score. at the rate of knots.
Harry Brook hit three centuries in Pakistan and looks to be England’s next great Test batsman
All bar Ben Foakes and Jack Leach have a strike-rate of at least 85, while the highest figure among Pakistan’s leading batsmen is Babar Azam’s 68. On Tuesday, Babar said his team is in control of two of the Tests. England are even causing their opponents to stop thinking straight.
There were bowling heroes too, not least in the quicks, with Ollie Robinson, James Anderson and Mark Wood combining for 25 wickets in 20 – a superb effort in conditions where they were constantly praying for reverse swing. Pakistan’s various seamers managed 11 wickets between them.
And the emergence in Karachi of 18-year-old Rehan Ahmed, a leg-spinner with a big future, feels like Christmas has come early.
More importantly, Stokes’ side won the big moments, while Pakistan seemed to confirm the private view in the England camp that they do not enjoy the pressure.
The downfalls of Pakistan became as much a feature as the English invasion. On the last day in Rawalpindi, they lost five for nine. In Multan, it was eight for 60, then five for 38. In Karachi, seven fell for 142 in the first innings, six for 52 in the second. Apart from Babar and Saud Shakeel, there is little adhesiveness.
Rehan Ahmed had a dream debut and could be a star of the future for England
All the runs were made by England – remarkably so, as the bug that threatened to delay the start of the series circled them throughout the three Tests.
And if one gesture embodied Stokes’ promise to entertain, it was his tea-time declaration on day four in Rawalpindi, setting a target of 343. Above all, it dangled a carrot: it was not until late that Pakistan started to block for a draw.
Future opponents will continue to argue that Bazball won’t work against them – the Australians are already doing it before next summer. All the while, England continue to tear up the record books, challenge the oldest format of the game to reinvent itself in the modern era, and perhaps even attract a new generation of fans.
It was a year they, and Test cricket, will never forget.
