The sponsors’ backdrop was missing and the champagne spray parked but at the end of a rapid-fire Test decider, played out to a backdrop of national mourning in which English cricket struck the right tone, Ben Stokes smiled with satisfaction as he was presented with the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy.
A crowd of 5,000 had pitched up to the Oval to watch just 25 minutes of cricket in watery September sunshine as England sealed a nine-wicket victory over South Africa, and with it a 2-1 series victory. After Ollie Pope had duffed his attempt to scoop the winning runs a la Joe Root earlier in the summer, Zak Crawley punched Marco Jansen through cover for four to move to an unbeaten 69 and complete an inevitable chase of 130.
