ANALYSIS: England continues rise from the Ashes under Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum
, on a pitch labelled "embarrassing" by Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ramiz Raja and given a "below average" rating by match referee due to the lack of assistance on offer for the bowlers.
England batted for 136.5 overs in Rawalpindi and outscored Pakistan, who batted for 252 overs, by 74 runs.The two occasions in which more runs have been scored were both in "timeless" Tests also involving England against South Africa at Kingsmead in 1939 and the West Indies at Sabina Park in 1930. A huge factor in the turn around has been the partnership between McCullum and his new skipper, Ben Stokes.Stokes is arguably England's most mercurially talented player since Ian Botham, and is a Test player in the mould of McCullum himself.
"Ben Stokes is the perfect character to inspire change around him," McCullum said when appointed earlier this year."I didn't realise me and Baz would be so aligned," Stokes told Sky Sports after the series win in Pakistan. "The ambition to win and play an entertaining brand of cricket, like we're going to do, is going to override any fear of failure."Releasing that failure and fear off everyone is why we've produced the results and the way we've gone about it."
Few edges fall wide of the slip cordon when England play — mostly because to do you you'd have to edge it to point, such is the way Stokes packs them in.
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