Now, with a series-clinching nine-wicket victory over South Africa at the Kia Oval, England capped off a remarkable summer.
The match was won in just under two days after days one and two of play were postponed out of respect for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who recently passed away. The home team scored the 33 runs necessary to win on the fifth morning of the third and final Test in just 25 minutes.
Ollie Pope finished the game unbeaten on 11, while Zak Crawley concluded with a score of 69 after Alex Lees was lbw on review to Kagiso Rabada for 39.
After sealing a 2-1 series victory over South Africa at the Oval on Monday, Ben Stokes declared that England would continue their aggressive style to Test cricket under coach Brendon McCullum. After the first day was rained out and the second was abandoned due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the game was reduced to three days.
England still required less than 30 minutes to secure a nine-wicket victory in front of a tiny audience in London. With the game being cut short, England captain Stokes said to the news, “Our major goal was it ending in a result.”
We believed we owed it to both ourselves and the country, which has supported us throughout the entire summer. We will always play in a way that we believe will amuse spectators and always look for the positive aspects of cricket.
All of those victories have been highlighted by an offensive strategy.
Stokes stated, “Brendon and I are the guys giving this message to this bunch of players.
“I praised all my squad, my backroom staff, and my coaches for having bought into this, but I remarked to the lads in the dressing room the other day that the person delivering the message can only do so much.
There is a reason why we were able to perform and had the trust in one another to go and do it, since it is extremely uncommon and not something you see very frequently.