After the recent Test against Ireland at Lord’s, with a dressing room full of the bucket hats he had ordered staring back at him, Ben Stokes delivered a calm, precise message: to regain the Ashes, none of what had got England to this point changes.
Whatever happens next against a fine Australia side, that a team chewed up so badly by their opponents 18 months ago will hit Edgbaston this week so emboldened – happy to spend the intervening time on Scotland’s golf courses – says a fair bit about the mentality shift under Stokes’s captaincy and the charisma of Brendon McCullum.
Rob Key gave the diagnosis when he swapped the role of commentator for England team director at the start of last season. He made a bet with himself that, despite the flatlining results that prompted regime change, the team were blessed with good players who were trying too hard, wanted it too much and in a jaded struggle through the pandemic’s fug of fixture fulfilment, were “suffocating”.
Key also knew Stokes was set to hit the task hard as the clouds of bubble life and his mental health problems the previous summer lifted. Had he sought to offset the captain’s returning flame with an intense “drill sergeant” head coach or one who was overly technical and fastidious, the result of this fire and ice, to quote the Spinal Tap bassist, Derek Smalls, would have been lukewarm water.
McCullum was in the foothills of a Twenty20 coaching career but had been the name buzzing around Key’s mind since the start, impressed by his captaincy of New Zealand. That joyful team had already been the muse for England’s white-ball resurgence under Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss, with the former asked for a reference on an admittedly close friend but having also seen first-hand his nascent second career at Kolkata Knight Riders.
“People go about it the wrong way a lot of the time. The first question should be, what does the team need?” says Morgan, who is part of the Sky Sports commentary team showing the men’s and women’s Ashes live in the UK this summer. “Cricket is becoming similar to football, where managers stream through and the same names come up, rather than what a team needs.
“Rob asked me about my experience of Baz. We are very similarly aligned in our thoughts and messaging, much like him and Stokes have become. It’s about being absolutely clear in the direction and trying to embody that, and getting guys on board. Stimulating people. With Kolkata, this was binding a squad of different languages and backgrounds off the field and allowing the captain to dictate the team.”
Much like Morgan’s World Cup winners who stuck 400 on the board at Edgbaston at the very start, the team burst out in Technicolor to begin a run of daredevil cricket, producing 11 wins from 13 Tests. Andrew Samson has broken down the statistics for a forthcoming Guardian special – the run chases, the scoring rates, Gilbert Jessop’s return to the zeitgeist – that shows the conventions they have whack-a-moled along the way.
This has been driven by Stokes, a captain batting with scant regard for his own numbers (which have held up) and who is relentlessly proactive and innovative in the field. Jonny Bairstow lit the fuse against New Zealand and India but the crowning glory to date was probably Pakistan, when a squad back under lock and key and battling an awful virus overcame the heartbreaking pitches for a remarkable, previously unmatched 3-0 clean sweep.
Off the field the coaching staff has been pared back, curfews relaxed, prestigious golf courses monstered and even a pit walk at a grand prix taken; in a world of T20 riches, McCullum and Stokes have looked to make the supposedly harder Test format a lifestyle. Rock up 20 minutes before the start of play? No problem, as long as you take full ownership of your preparation, commit to the push for fast runs and fast wickets and put on a show for the audience.
It has been a fusion of making players feel like rock stars and as if Test cricket is a Saturday club match. And this has come from a pairing who, along with Kiwi heritage and a penchant for a tattoo, have already secured their legacies.
They speak of a desire to help others experience the highs of a Test career, not a desperation for personal results. As well as buy-in from a gnarled pair such as Jimmy Anderson and Stuart “the Nighthawk” Broad, a litter of newcomers have delivered.
“There are two types of people,” Key told the Cricketer recently, revealing a bit about his own weekends. “Even among friends and people you love, you suggest something, a bite to eat for instance, and they say: ‘Yeah, but it’s a bit far, the traffic is bad.’ They point out every problem. ‘Fancy going shopping at Bluewater?’ And they will say: ‘What are we going to do with the dogs?’ We are all aware of these issues, it’s not that we’re oblivious, but people like Brendon and Ben see the upside.”
You don’t see much technical coaching from McCullum at the net sessions scored by his eclectic music taste over the speakers. And on the balcony during play – baseball cap sat high, shades on, chewing gum in – players hover to inhale the positive fumes he is emitting. McCullum in turn picks private moments when he spots that a player might need an extra dose, inventing the odd excuse like a car share to administer it.
Outwardly, they have been telling the rest of the world this approach can save Test cricket and informed every opponent they have unilaterally taken the draw off the table. Such evangelism from a well-resourced Test nation has doubtless grated for some – Bazball is a symptom of the very decline it is looking to arrest, say others – but that the cricket has been compelling, and that England have developed their own unique style under the pair, is inarguable.
“I’m more surprised by the level of consistency than by the switch being flicked,” says Morgan. “It does take a team hitting rock bottom to make drastic changes – there is a pent-up desire to do things differently.
“For the experienced players, there has been a revitalisation. And a contributing factor is the game itself; it’s changing, the level of skill players have at their disposal now. They want to display it. They don’t train all that time to bang out a forward defensive or a leave for five days.”
The question now – why so many mouths are watering – is what the almost chemical reaction will be when all this collides with a formidable Australia team that are laced with some modern-day champions, steadfast in their own beliefs, and looking to secure their own spot in history. Unlike their opponents, England have had to shape-shift a bit recently too, Jack Leach’s cruel injury enforcing one rethink and Bairstow’s return from injury, allied with Harry Brook’s emergence, resulting in Ben Foakes being discarded.
“Home advantage makes England slight favourites,” says Morgan. “But Australia are incredibly strong. I see two positives to England’s method: if it works early in the series, it will tempt Australia to change how they play or see them start to question themselves. That can lead to changes in selection, etc.
“The second is off field. An Aussie side turns up and there’s usually a lot more talk about how strong they are. But all the talk is about this England team, the last 12 months. Are Australia really going to sit back and just see how things unfold? Traditionally when you do that, it doesn’t go well.
“England are getting more and more out of the players by asking more of them to take on risk. Changing their method now makes no sense whatsoever.”
There are a few more days of training to report on, quotes and opinions to share, but very soon we will have our answer to this caper.
