EDGBASTON — England’s Test summer is not quite over after Pakistan’s unexpected resistance took this final Test at Edgbaston into a fourth day.
Having lost the first series of the summer against New Zealand 2-1, England still look likely to whitewash their second opponents 3-0, as long as they see out a run chase of 130 when play resumes on Saturday morning.
Yet this chaotic summer has been about far more than results, with retirements, sackings, two captains, 17 players used and a heavy dollop of off-field controversy.
Here are The i Paper’s winners and losers…
Winners
Root has brought some semblance of calm back to the England set up (Photo: PA)Ollie Robinson
Recalled for the first time in more than two years, the Sussex seamer smashed it, taking 28 wickets at 9.32 – figures not seen since the Victorian age.
Lawyers
Off-field shenanigans meant legal eagles, and police, were a theme of the summer. First, Stokes used Bob Mitchell, the veteran sports lawyer, to forensically pick apart the curfew regulations he and Gus Atkinson were alleged to have breached during their late-night trip to the Rex Rooms after England’s win against New Zealand at Lord’s in June. Both were cleared of wrongdoing by the Cricket Regulator despite effectively being suspended for a Test by the England & Wales Cricket Board [ECB].
Then there was Brydon Carse, arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly and then promptly de-arrested outside a Derby nightclub last month. Police are still investigating an alleged assault in connection with the arrest, although it is unclear whether this involves Carse.
Dan Lawrence
First series for two years and filling the middle-order slot vacated by Stokes, the 29-year-old assured his place for the winter with three half-centuries against Pakistan, averaging 46.75 in a series where batting was tough.
Josh Tongue
The fiery quick who excelled in Australia last winter has gone up another level and is now an integral part of England’s attack. Has 33 wickets at 25.69 this year.
Pubs and nightclubs
The Rex Rooms in Chelsea, thanks to Stokes and Atkinson, got more publicity than it could have dreamed of back in June. The White Horse pub in Parsons Green, where England’s players gathered alongside the Saracens rugby team earlier that same day, also got plenty of mentions.
Then Molly Malone’s in Derby got in on the act thanks to Carse and his Durham team’s celebrations after a County Championship win. Stokes was there, too, caught retreating behind a pillar outside the venue when he saw he was being filmed. No wonder the Tailenders podcast that includes England’s all-time leading wicket-taker James Anderson titled one of their episodes “Saving Britain’s nightclubs”.
Troy Cooley
Appointed men’s elite national pace bowling lead by the England & Wales Cricket Board [ECB] in January, the Australian who brought together England’s famed 2005 Ashes attack looks to have made an impact already given this summer’s quartet of Robinson, Jofra Archer, Tongue and Gus Atkinson have been compared to their counterparts from 21 years ago.
Although he doesn’t have hands-on daily contact with those four, he is still heavily involved, with Tongue saying of Cooley: “I did a lot of work with him before the New Zealand series and we always keep in touch over the phone.”
Joe Root
Took on the captaincy after the chaos of the first half of the summer and restored sanity to the set-up, even amidst the Carse fall-out. Only averaged 27.3 with the bat – his lowest ever in a home summer – but has led superbly on and off the field.
Marcus North
The new national selector, formerly director of cricket at Durham, has been impressive since taking over in May. The Australian is a much-needed sensible voice steeped in county cricket.
Losers
The reputation of Rob Key (left) has taken a battering this summer (Photo: Getty)Ben Stokes
Retired in a blaze of publicity the week after his battle with the ECB over that night out at the Rex Rooms was resolved. Announcing it mid-Test at Trent Bridge was self-indulgent and played its part in the defeat by New Zealand. Never got over losing so badly in Australia last winter or his differences with coach Brendon McCullum or ECB top brass. It wasn’t meant to end like this.
Brydon Carse
An ever-present in Australia last winter, the seamer has not played a Test since. Missed the New Zealand series with a hand injury then dropped from the squad for the final two Tests against Pakistan after that night out in Derby.
Brendon McCullum
Clung on after the 4-1 hammering in Australia last winter but was finally sacked after the New Zealand series. Somehow stayed on as white-ball coach.
Jacob Bethell
Having scored a maiden Test century against Australia in Sydney at the start of the year, the 22-year-old’s Indian Premier League commitments meant he was short of red-ball cricket going into the New Zealand Tests, where he averaged 17.16 from No 3. A knee injury sustained during the India ODIs then ruled him out for the rest of the summer.
Rob Key
Backed McCullum after the Ashes and then sacked him. Failed to back Stokes during the Rex Rooms crisis and then lost him to retirement. Also oversaw the sloppily-codified curfew rules that Stokes exposed. Then had to scrap the curfew when Root took over as captain. Finally, appointed a new Test coach in Stephen Fleming and allowed him to delay starting the job until the winter.
England’s communications team
Overworked and put in plenty of impossible situations all summer. They also lost the services of the excellent men’s media manager Danny Reuben, who had skilfully negotiated his way through the job for over a decade.
James Rew
It was the Somerset wicketkeeper-batter’s misfortune to be handed his Test debut at The Oval in an inexperienced team shorn of the suspended Stokes and Atkinson. The 22-year-old had a shocker, scoring just 39 runs and looking jittery with the gloves.
England fans
After the Ashes misery Down Under, more drama and poor results came against New Zealand. Then the Pakistan series, a non-contest played at the fag-end of the summer against sub-par opposition followed. To top it all, extortionate prices for next year’s home Ashes were released earlier this month, with rises of up to 43 per cent on the 2023 series for some tickets.
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