Three years ago, word filtered out from Trent Bridge that Brendon McCullum had charged his England players to "run towards the danger." What followed—Jonny Bairstow vaporising a target of 299 against New Zealand—was sporting theatre, raw and rousing. The press, predictably, devoured it. The mantra was headline catnip, a declaration of intent wrapped in machismo.
Fast forward to this week at Headingley, and England, faced with a chase of 371, completed it with 14 overs to spare at a breezy 4.5 runs per over. Yet, this time, there was no rallying cry, no metaphors borrowed from war or wilderness. Just a quiet confidence. The dressing room message was succinct: “Bat the day, win the game.” Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, opening the innings, agreed simply to “play like it was day one.”
It wasn’t theatrical. But perhaps that’s the point. After three years under McCullum and Ben Stokes, a new psychology is calcifying. Where once England’s Test team approached large chases with trepidation—weighted by history, fixated on the draw—now they appear unshackled. The clarity is so complete, the sabres need not be rattled.
Ben Duckett, architect of a match-defining 149 from 170 balls, hinted at this maturation. “My mindset was a bit different to what it has been over the last couple of years,” he noted, having initially restrained himself against Jasprit Bumrah’s probing spell. “It was potentially a bit of maturity kicking in… knowing it would get easier.”
Credit, too, went to Crawley, whose 65 came in a 188-run opening partnership that laid the foundation for the pursuit. “He is definitely thinking about batting differently now,” said Duckett. “Still smacking the bad ball, but with a calmness in thought.”
This tonal shift isn’t limited to the middle. Rob Key, director of England men’s cricket, has quietly encouraged less public bluster. Behind the scenes too, the rhetoric has softened. Bazball, once a clarion call, now hums beneath the surface—less showy, more systemic.
There remain flashes of overreach. Jamie Smith’s premature dismissal on day three, moments before the second new ball, was a reminder that aggression still sometimes bleeds into recklessness. But in the decisive moments—when 69 runs remained and the finish line beckoned—Smith steadied. At the other end, Joe Root offered a masterclass in calm, a heartbeat barely perceptible, allowing Smith to play a poised, unbeaten 44.
Naturally, detractors will note India’s dropped catches, a cooperative pitch, and yet another subpar batch of Dukes balls. The scepticism mirrors the early days of Eoin Morgan’s white-ball revolution—when England’s newfound fluency with the bat from 2015 to 2019 was treated with suspicion before it became the norm.
Yet the counterarguments fall a little flat. England dropped chances too. And Headingley’s true surfaces predate the Stokes-McCullum regime—recall Shai Hope’s unforgettable 2017 twin centuries on this very ground.
Even with fortune’s usual fluctuations, the achievement stands tall. Not just the fourth-innings chase, but the resilience shown earlier. India amassed five centuries, and twice forced England into the field for long, draining stretches. In another era, English shoulders would have slumped. This time, they stiffened.
Alastair Cook captured the contrast aptly. Speaking to Test Match Special, he confessed that in his day, had he won the toss and seen the opposition reach 430 for three—as India did by day two—doubts would have surfaced within the ranks. But this team under Stokes is different. Their belief is unyielding. To borrow a phrase from Stokes’s own 2019 Headingley epic: they “never, ever give up.”
And now, perhaps, they don’t even need to say it aloud.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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