HEADINGLEY – It is just over two months since director of cricket Rob Key was asked whether England’s Test team were a “national embarrassment” amid the fallout from Ben Stokes’ late-night trip to Chelsea’s Rex Rooms.
So, even accounting for how bad Pakistan were in this first Test – maybe even a national embarrassment – a statement win such as this provided the perfect start to Joe Root’s second spell as captain following months of turmoil and upheaval on and off the field.
As such the power of this three-day walkover from a psychological perspective cannot be underestimated.
We might not yet be able to fully draw a line over a period of tumult that saw the Bazball project go up in flames after, first, Stokes, the captain, dramatically quit international cricket mid-Test at Trent Bridge in June and Brendon McCullum, the coach, was sacked two weeks later.
This was a pleasing start for Joe Root (Photo: Reuters)
