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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Jonathan Liew at Headingley

If Brendon McCullum’s bold new era is an illusion it is a persuasive one

Ben Stokes and Matt Potts celebrate taking the wicket of Kane Williamson
Matt Potts is the real thing with his energy and commitment to a plan vital for Ben Stokes’s England. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Shortly after half past five a wild and barbarous noise consumed Headingley, the sort that brings local residents to their windows and the day-trippers in the hospitality boxes streaming out on to the balconies.

A few of the dozing members in the pavilion may even have been stirred from their evening slumbers. Out in the middle Stuart Broad was pumping his arms like a preacher. England’s slip cordon were clapping in time, beating out a fearsome tribal rhythm.

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