Admit it. You had doubts, didn’t you?
Maybe they came when England were 141 all in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, or when they lost by a set to South Africa on the same ground.
Maybe you thought they couldn’t do it overseas, or that Ben Stokes had bitten off more than he could chew when he told tea on day four of the first Test against Pakistan.
If you wobbled, that’s okay. England’s victory in Rawalpindi makes us all believers.
It’s certainly full vindication of the style in which England are playing under Stokes and manager Brendon McCullum, and stepping right into the conversation for their biggest ever Test victory.
Just for a moment, put aside the way to the 74-point victory, sealed in near obscurity last night, and consider some bare facts.
England were without Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow.
They had only won two previous Tests against Pakistan outside the UK, and none for 22 years.
Since England’s last away win, Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook have led Ashes-winning sides who have returned empty-handed, while Andrew Strauss’ side were ranked number one in the world when she was hammered.
None of the Rawalpindi XI had played a Test in Pakistan before. It contained one hitter, Harry Brook, with a cap and another, Ben Duckett, playing his first Test in six years.
Ollie Pope was a substitute wicketkeeper. Debutants Will Jacks and Liam Livingstone are part-time spinners, and Livingstone hasn’t played due to a knee injury.
On top of all that, England have been hit so hard by a virus that if the Test had started 24 hours earlier, they wouldn’t have been able to field a team.
The thought of spending five minutes out of reach of the toilet was dangerous, let alone five days.
Then there was the way England played.
Two days before the test started, James Anderson saw the surface, 22 yards of pancake batter disguised as a cricket pitch, and said England would have to be “creative” to win.
But not even Anderson could have known that the level of creativity required meant coming up with ideas that even David Blaine would dismiss as being too out there.
A 506-4 record on day one, a total of 921 points scored at a faster rate than any Test in history. Bowlers go through more shots than Liz Truss, only successfully. Field placements that never settled – five, six, or even seven catchers designed to coax a batter into an error.
The masterpiece was the Declaration, a chip-and-ball bet designed to risk it all to win the prize. It worked.
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain said Stokes’ performance was “one of the greatest Test captain displays” he had ever seen.
He even got people talking about them in Australia.
“McCullum and Stokes are changing the way Test cricket should be played,” said former Australian batsman Mark Waugh. “A courageous and fearless positive mindset allows them to win in Rawalpindi on the most docile surface.
“I don’t think any other team in the cricketing world would have rolled the dice like this.”
No other world cricket team has Stokes, who called the win one of his finest moments in an England shirt.
He is a man who produced winning performances in two World Cup finals and played arguably the greatest Test rounds ever by an Englishman.
Yet, perhaps his most important contribution to the game is what he does for the England team and Test cricket as a whole.
The longest form, threatened by white-ball cricket, needs some love. If he’s dying in one part of the world, then everyone is affected. A small pool of competitive opponents is not good for anyone.
“We try to make Test cricket as exciting as the short formats,” Stokes said. “Who doesn’t want to see a test go into day five and be played like that?
“Test cricket has to be taken care of. It’s the pinnacle – the one that everyone wants to play. If we can make a little indentation in the way other teams play the game, it will only do the world good. cricket test.
“We don’t want him to fall off the planet. He needs to stay. We will do everything we can as a team to keep him alive.”
Stokes’ mantra touches on the very meaning of professional sport – if nobody wants to watch, what’s the point?
The beauty of England’s performance in Rawalpindi is that it would still have been thrilling, captivating and compelling even if they had lost.
England may have had cricketers who are better than Stokes and a handful who can match his achievements, but there may be none who are as important.
Mike Atherton, another former England captain and a man not known for hyperbolizing, called Stokes “one of the most important captains we’ve had”.
Where does England go from here?
There are two upcoming tests in Pakistan. It seems pointless to wonder if the tourists will maintain their 1-0 lead. They will go full throttle through Multan and Karachi.
Gilbert Jessop has been dead for 67 years, but even he must want some peace from the constant threat to his record for fastest hundred by an England batter in the cricket test – 76 ball set in 1902.
The man nicknamed ‘Croucher’ will surely be able to rest soon, this brand could even go on this tour.
The record of 54 balls for the fastest hundred tests of all time is held by a certain Brendon Barrie McCullum. He would probably be only too happy to hand it over to one of his current proteges.
There will no doubt be bumps in the road to England, before or even during the Ashes of next summer.
It’s incredibly unlikely that they can continue to play this way and not have some weird setbacks. They accept this fate.
Remember there was a time not so long ago when they had only one victory out of 17, beaten everywhere from Ahmedabad to Adelaide, from Gabba to Granada.
Keep the faith. Stock up on the feeling of tearing Trent Bridge to beat New Zealand, or the brilliance of Bairstow and Root against India at Edgbaston. Add the Rawalpindi Raid to the list.
We must all be believers now.
