GEORGE DOBELL IN NOTTINGHAM: Given that England utilised a field including six slips at times at Lord's, you wonder just how much more positivity they could demonstrate. But Stokes has encouraged his new team to "not be comfortable with where we are"
Ben Stokes has urged his England side to be even more positive in the second Test of the LV= Insurance series against New Zealand.
England won the first Test at Lord's – their first success in the format in 14 matches and 10 months – by five wickets, with the home team demonstrating some significant changes from the previous regime.
Given that England utilised a field including six slips at times at Lord's, you wonder just how much more positivity they could demonstrate. But, delighted as Stokes was with the performance, he has encouraged his new team to "not be comfortable with where we are" but be "even more positive" at Trent Bridge. Victory would give England their first series win since they defeated Sri Lanka in January 2021.
"The message from me to everyone is to just be even more positive than we were last week," Stokes said. "Look at the result: we ended up winning. But let's not just be comfortable with where we are. Let's just always look to try and be better.
"Something that I learned in the way that Eoin Morgan captained the one-day team is that he was just always looking to be more positive in defeat or in victory.
Ben Stokes talks to the media at Trent Bridge [Stu Forster/Getty Images]
"I can't complain about the way that anybody went about last week. It's just a simple message and it's something that we are trying to filter throughout everything that we do: always look to be positive. I don't know how you make positive more positive but I think you get what I mean."
The improvement in the fielding and bowling was fairly obvious. England took every chance that came their way in the field – including a very sharp chance that went to Jonny Bairstow within moments of the match starting – and connected with almost every throw at the stumps. They also won reward for bowling a notably fuller length with the new ball.
"Throughout the whole week any field change or any bowling change that I made, was always to take wickets," Stokes said. "It was never a case of just containing the run-rate or make it go a little bit dry for a bit and then see where we are.
"It was always about taking wickets. And when you are looking to be positive and take wickets you will tend to see bowlers bowl a little bit fuller to try to bring in bowled and lbw dismissals as well as the nicks behind. So yes, that was a simple change of mindset.
"The slip cordon's not been our strongest point over the last couple of years but those things [the catches] are a sign of the environment. When everyone's happy and enjoying what they're doing, the catches and run-outs in the field tend to be better."
Any improvement in the batting was less obvious. But Stokes expressed his pleasure with the intention of his batters even if, on occasion, that did not lead to large scores.
"I think it [the positive attitude] works both with bat and ball," he said. "Last week, there weren't any huge stand-out performances with the bat except for Joe Root. But look at the way Zak Crawley played in the first innings or Alex Lees in the second. I know he only scored 20, but I felt it was the best he's looked in an England shirt. He would obviously have liked to carry on but that's the benchmark he's set himself going forward for England.
England are on the verge of a first Test series win for 17 months [Stu Forster/Getty Images]
"And Jonny Bairstow: 16 doesn't look great, but that 10-15 minutes he spent out there put New Zealand on the back foot a little. If we'd got another half-hour, 40 minutes of that, the game would have been taken too far away from them.
"So, yes, you can be positive in the way you want to attack but also be positive about the way you want to dig in. It makes your decision-making a lot better if you commit to leaving the ball. As Trevor Bayliss used to say, it's not all about hitting fours and sixes."
The commitment to the team cause was, arguably, best demonstrated at Lord's by Jack Leach's fielding. So determined was Leach to claw back a ball headed for the rope, he launched a despairing dive which did prevent the boundary but resulted in him sustaining a concussion which ruled him out of the remained of the match.
"Brendon McCullum actually made a big point about Leachy doing that that after day one," Stokes said. "And I think that filtered throughout the whole week: just the way that everyone was flying around in the field and really committing to stopping every single run possible. I think it's pretty obvious to see the way McCullum wants the little things to look after themselves has rubbed off quite easily and everyone's bought into that.
"The message from me before training this morning was: we're playing for England. Everyone should just be looking to enjoy their moments of representing England and then the results will look after themselves. I just want everyone to enjoy every single moment, whether that be on the training field or out in the middle playing for England.
Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on England's Test tour with George Dobell in Pakistan, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.