GEORGE DOBELL IN MOUNT MAUNGANUI: The England Test skipper, the joint-quickest to 10 victories, pays tribute to his batting line-up and bowling attack after securing a 267-run win over New Zealand at Bay Oval
Ben Stokes has credited his "unbelievable bowling attack" and "seriously skilled and very brave batting lineup" for his remarkable record as captain.
England's win in Mount Maunganui - their first in New Zealand in 15 years - meant Stokes equalled the record as the quickest Test captain to achieve 10 victories. It has taken him 12 Tests to reach the mark. The previous record for an England captain was set by Michael Vaughan, who achieved his 10th win in his 16th match as captain.
But far from celebrating the turnaround his leadership has inspired, Stokes instead praised his players for their individual skill and commitment to the team plans.
"When you look at captaincy records, captaincy is only a small part of it," Stokes said. "There are 10 other people who have to go out there and do a job and allow you to win.
"I'm very blessed that I’ve got a batting line-up like I do and a bowling attack with James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson. I'm very lucky to be able to captain this team at the moment.
England completed victory during the fourth afternoon (MARTY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty Images)
"It's not only my captaincy and ideas that are allowing us to play this way, you also have to have the players fully behind you, to follow you out there with what you want to do. I’ve got off to a great start with my captaincy, but most of that has got to go down to the players."
England's results under Stokes are all the more impressive for the struggles they experience before he took over. They have, for example, won 10 out of 11 since Stokes and Brendon McCullum were united as captain and coach. Before that, England had won just one Test in 17.
While Stokes admitted results had, to some extent, exceeded expectations, he again credited his team for their exceptional individual performances.
"I guess you could say results have exceeded expectations," Stokes said. "But expectations just keep being blown out of the water by the performances that not only the team are putting in but also certain individuals keep putting in over the last 10 or 11 months.
"The team have obviously got to take a lot of credit for those results. More than myself because I can only go out there and say 'can we try this'. But they have to execute everything. Especially with the ball. And then being brave enough to go out there and do that with the bat.
Anderson and Broad became the first seam-bowling pair to pass 1,000 Test records (Phil Walter/Getty Images)
"A great example of that was the way that Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett went out and played in that very tricky period under the lights [on day two] to be 79 for 2. I think if you compare that to New Zealand in the same situation [on day one], they were 37 for 3.
"So, not only have I got an unbelievable bowling attack to be able to captain, but I've also got a seriously skilled and very brave batting lineup to watch. They've got to take a lot of credit for the record I have as a captain."
Keeping it simple is a big part of the Stokes mantra. When Ben Foakes came out to bat in England's second innings it was, for a moment, hailed as a tactical masterstroke from the captain: a plan to add some fibre to England's batting just as it seemed New Zealand might be fighting their way back into the match.
There turned out to be a much more prosaic explanation: Stokes was simply 'indisposed' in the bathroom. Foakes was simply in a better position to head out to bat.
"We've got a 40-year-old and a 36-year-old setting the standard of what we're about in the field in terms of energy. Those boys will bowl all day for you but look at the way you see them running around in the field"
This is not atypical of the Stokes approach. He wants to keep it simple to the extent that he says the team is focused far less on results as much as sticking to the principle of taking the aggressive option whenever possible and enjoying the journey.
"It probably sounds silly to say that the results aren't at the forefront of our mind," Stokes explained. "But the pleasing thing for me is that we've gone out there and we've been brave enough to execute everything that we want to do with bat and ball this week.
"The most important thing within the group, which is the process over anything else at the moment. If we keep playing the way in which we're playing and we're executing the things that we want to do well, then we're going to be giving ourselves an opportunity to win."
While Stokes agreed that the result had been set up by the aggression of his batters, he was especially effusive in praise of his senior fast bowlers who claimed 12 wickets between them in the match.
The Stokes-McCullum axis have won 10 of their 11 Tests (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
Player of the match Harry Brook defined England aggressive match approach (Phil Walter/Getty Images)
"I think probably day one is the reason why we're here on day four being winners, because of how we approached the game,” Stokes said. "We ended up getting plenty of runs on the board and we were able to take 20 wickets.
"Not only did Anderson and Broad do brilliantly in this game with the ball, but last night I said in the dressing room we've got a 40-year-old and a 36-year-old setting the standard of what we're about in the field in terms of energy. Those boys will bowl all day for you but look at the way you see them running around in the field.
"After that 10-over spell last night, every time Broady got a ball hit past him he sprinted after it all the way to the boundary. Jimmy's always done that.
"When they've got a ball in their hand, with how many games they've won for England and probably will do going forward, they’re setting a great example not only for us in the dressing room but for anybody who wants to have a long career in professional sport."
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