Telegraph e-paper

England have tons of fun Four centurions hammer Pakistan as ‘Bazball’ sensation hits new level

Four centuries as rampant tourists obliterate records Crawley, Duckett, Pope and Brook take apart spinners

By Nick Hoult CHIEF CRICKET CORRESPONDENT in Rawalpindi

Never before have a team attacked like this on day one of a Test match, or done it in such style. England’s 506 for four proved this team are giving everything to reinvent Test cricket.

An hour after play finished, the lights from the England dressing room carried across the darkened Pindi Stadium as Brendon Mccullum led the debrief.

The locals waiting outside for England to leave so that the roads could reopen had to hang around longer to get home for dinner because there was a lot for Mccullum to talk about and digest.

Only 24 hours earlier his players had been in the sick bay, unable to keep anything down or stomach the thought of playing.

A day later and they played with the enthusiasm of children picking up a bat for the first time, and Mccullum could sit back like a satisfied patriarch to watch young batsmen perform in the style of veterans at the top of their game. In turn, they proved what can happen when management has the courage of its convictions and gives players the backing to play with freedom.

Four made scintillating hundreds steeped in personal importance. Zak Crawley repaid the faith, Ben Duckett felt vindicated after six years out and wiped away his demons against spin, Ollie Pope proved his maturity and consistency with a composed 108 from 104 balls at No3, and Harry Brook smoked the best century of the lot from 80 balls in only his second Test innings.

For once, they did not even need Joe Root; he made only 23. A 233run opening stand and another of 176 between Brook and Pope for the fourth wicket broke Pakistan.

It does not matter how long you have watched Test cricket, or how many games you have seen, it will always have the capacity to produce something new. That is its beguiling quality and why it has endured while everything else around it has changed.

England’s total was the highest by any team on day one of a Test, beating Australia’s record that has stood since 1910.

No England opener has scored a century as quickly as Crawley’s off 86 balls. England’s 174 for no wicket before lunch was their biggest total in the first session of a Test, and the record books do not tell us if 6.74 an over is the best ever but it must have been one heck of a performance to beat it. Bad light cut play by 15 overs; they could have made 650.

There were other records, too: Crawley’s 14 off the first over was the most by an England player and the century stand from 83 balls the team’s quickest. This is the first time England have scored four hundreds in a day and Brook became the first to hit six balls of an over for four.

There was one near-miss, Brook was five balls short of beating Gilbert Jessop’s record for the fastest England Test hundred (76 balls), a mark this team will surely beat soon. Brook’s second fifty took 28 balls as they plundered tired bowlers.

But numbers are black and white and too many make the eyes spin. Instead, this was about joyful batting and entertainment. Yes, it was a flat deck, a good toss to win and the outfield lightning quick, so players got value for their shots. Yes, Pakistan were woeful in wasting the new ball, bowling utter dross, sending down only three maidens and fielding poorly. But England made them back off, unsettled their lengths with their aggression. Babar Azam, their captain, had no idea how to respond.

This was an important day. The momentum gathered in the summer could have dissipated. Was “Bazball” just a fad? A brief flash when they had nothing to lose? No, they doubled down on it.

Crawley was majestic, his cover drives and flicks through wide long on wonderfully timed. Duckett square-cut the seamers like David Warner when they dropped short and took 12 off the first over from debutant leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, setting the tone with a reverse sweep. The three spinners were stunned and conceded runs at 7.6 an over.

Crawley drove wonderfully and Duckett scored all but 25 of his runs square of the wicket – the little-andlarge combo working neatly at first attempt. An attack with three debutants was taken apart, ball by ball. This was not slogging either, or head-in-the-air swinging – shown by the fact England hit only three sixes. It was calculated, brutal precision against bad balls.

Crawley was given out on 99, leg before, but overturned on review, urged by Duckett to check when he himself thought he was out. He reached his hundred three balls later with a trademark four. Duckett joined him off 105 balls, and looked a little shocked by it all, raising his bat sheepishly.

Three wickets after lunch – Crawley bowled by the best ball of the day from Haris Rauf, Duckett and Root out sweeping – threatened to undo the good work, but Pope was silky smooth after an early misjudgment against the legspinner. He seamlessly continued the attack, cruising to his fifty off 54 balls and a hundred in the final hour from another 46.

At tea, England were 332 for three and had started to slow. If the ball reversed, there could still be time for Pakistan to get back in it. But England clobbered 174 in the final session, losing only Pope on review for 108.

Ben Stokes hit the last ball of the day for four – the 76th boundary of the innings – to take England to the record score on day one. How fitting it was him. It is called Bazball but Stokes is the piper they all follow.

England’s biggest hitters are still to come. It is not over yet.

Front Page

en-gb

2022-12-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281681143900806

Daily Telegraph