Sports writers love a Churchillian speech that precedes a mind-bending feat. Take three years ago, when word got back that Brendon McCullum had told his England players to “run towards the danger” at Trent Bridge before Jonny Bairstow vaporised a target of 299 against New Zealand. It was like ruddy catnip for the press corps.
This time, after reeling in 371 at Headingley on Tuesday at a breezy 4.5 runs per over and with 14 overs to spare? Apparently very little was said in the dressing room beforehand beyond “bat the day, win the game” or Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett deciding between them to ignore the target and just “play like it was day one”.
