GEORGE DOBELL AT EDGBASTON: It bears repeating: England are four games into this new era. They are bound to experience some tough days. Who knows where this resurgence ends? It promises to be a lot of fun finding out
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about England’s victory at Edgbaston – and there were quite a few remarkable things about it – was that it seemed to come with such ease.
Despite needing to set a new record for the highest successful run-chase in their Test history, England needed only 90-minutes to score the remaining 119 runs they required on the final day to win this match with seven wickets in hand. It meant they drew the series and have won four Tests in succession.
But such facts barely scrape the surface of what happened. England didn’t just chase down this total: they tore into the India attack like hyenas into a tasty zebra. Jonny Bairstow, with his fourth century in five innings, equalled the England record for six Test centuries in a calendar year – he is due to play six more – while Joe Root completed his fourth century of the series to take his average above 100.
Over the last month, England have achieved four of the 13 highest run-chases in their history. Ben Stokes was only half joking when he suggested he wished India had scored a few more so England could have been stretched a bit further. We live in remarkable times.
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow impressed for England once again [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]
Increasingly, the narrative of England’s recent Tests resembles the plot of a Bond film (For Leg Byes Only, maybe?). England find themselves, metaphorically at least, strapped to a table with a laser poised to cut them in half when they somehow wriggle free and save the world. Sure, a more ruthless side might dominate in a way that doesn’t require a miracle. But when England keep producing them, when they keep leaving their opposition shaken and stirred, it seems churlish to complain.
The speed of the transformation has been astonishing. Remember, England came into this summer with one win from their 17 most recent Tests. They had been beaten by a modest West Indies, thrashed in the Ashes and declined to chase 273 in 70 overs against New Zealand. It felt as if English cricket was at a low ebb.
Now? It feels as if it is leading the way. It feels as if there are new grounds for optimism. As Root put it after the match, other sides will have sat up and taken notice. England, suddenly, are the most exciting team to watch in world cricket. The winning almost feels like a bonus.
Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. The white-ball revolution, which started in the summer of 2015, was equally dramatic. From poking around cautiously in Australia, they were suddenly thrashing 400 at Edgbaston. It is amazing what clarity of thought, self-confidence and supportive management can achieve.
Like the white-ball side, this Test team may well be at its best on good batting tracks. Certainly the Tests this summer have been played on surfaces which have deteriorated very little and with balls which have offered little lateral movement. As a result, England’s Test batters – like their white-ball counterparts – have been able to trust their skills and play their shots.
The days of relying on home advantage - and specifically, on playing the moving ball better than the opposition – appear to have gone. They will, no doubt, be tested on tracks which offer the bowlers more assistance. Equally, batting first, without the natural focus of a target to chase, will challenge in different ways.
The batters will gain the most attention. And it’s true that the manner in which they played - not least the opening pair of Alex Lees and Zak Crawley – appeared to rattle India. To see Root reverse scooping another six or Bairstow putting away anything with width was to see two huge talents at the peak of their powers. They looked unstoppable.
But Root made the point that the bowlers have taken 20 wickets in every Test of the summer despite the flat surfaces and less helpful balls. In finding a way to do so, be it through use of Jack Leach’s spin or James Anderson’s swing, they have more than played their part. With Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson and, with a bit of luck, Jofra Archer still to return, there are grounds for optimism.
England's bowlers have also impressed under the new regime [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]
It’s not hard to pick faults with some aspects of England’s performance in this game, though. For one thing, in subsiding to 149 for 6 in their first innings, they were guilty of some reckless cricket which could have cost them any chance in this match. Stokes’ dismissal, caught at mid-off the ball after he was dropped there, is perhaps the most obvious example, but Crawley, Root and Ollie Pope might also reflect they went looking for aggressive shots when the ball wasn’t there for them. Then, in the field, England leaked 78 runs in 11.5 overs on the start of day two as they were punished for the short-ball approach to the tail.
But those same characteristics worked beautifully second time around. Stokes’ short-ball attack lured India into a series of second-innings dismissals that let England back into this game. And we can hardly criticise Stokes’ attempts to be bold if we praise Lees for advancing down the pitch to smear Mohammed Shami through mid-wicket. Maybe we are going to have to take the rough with the smooth a bit with this side.
There was an acknowledgement from Root, however – perhaps the first such acknowledgement from this side – that there would be times when England had to soak up pressures. Times when they had to see bowlers off four a few overs. It doesn’t mean they’ll stop attempting to hit bowlers off their lengths or disrupt the plans of the fielding captain. It just means they will do so a little more judiciously. With a little bit of refinement, England can be even better. Even Lewis Hamilton slows down for corners.
But it bears repeating: England are four games into this new era. They are bound to refine the way they are playing just as they are bound to experience some tough days. They have, in beating New Zealand and India, defeated both finalists of last year’s World Test Championship and, in doing so, they have revived interest in the sport and the format. Who knows where this resurgence ends? It promises to be a lot of fun finding out.
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