Brendon McCullum took on as England’s Test coach when the team had managed to win one out of their last 17 Tests. Joe Root had stepped down as captain and a new managing director was at the helm of cricket affairs. 

Rising from the situation, McCullum and new captain Ben Stokes guided England to a thumping win in the first Test against reigning WTC champions New Zealand at the Lord’s Stadium, London. The five-wicket triumph, powered by Root’s century and bowlers’ efforts, marked the beginning of a new era for English cricket – the Stokes-McCullum era. 

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Brendon McCullum, who led New Zealand to the finals of the 2015 World Cup, is known for his aggressive gameplay. Stokes has been a part of some of the best cricket England has played in the last four years. The two, after securing a win with ease in the first Test, faced their first big challenge in Nottingham. 

New Zealand, who posted 553 runs in the first innings, had managed to take a 14-run lead. The English bowlers hit back in the second innings and restricted Tom Latham and co to 284. 

Stokes’ men needed 299 runs in 72 overs to win the second Test. The chase was steep and the difficulty level increased when they were reduced to 93/4 when Stokes came out to bat. Their best batter Joe Root and the top-order – Alex Lees, Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley – were sent back to the dugout. Jonny Bairstow finding his feet. The two shared a 179-run partnership, which came at the run rate of 8.87. It was the third-fastest 100-run stand in Tests in terms of run rate (where balls data is available). It is also the quickest partnership by run rate in Tests, that lasted 20-plus overs.

What was behind the aggression? A McCullum pep talk, wicketkeeper Ben Foakes revealed. 

“Baz’s team talk at tea – it was like William Wallace! After he was done, everyone was desperate to get out there,” Foakes was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. 

Also Read: England’s mammoth chase against New Zealand a Stokes-McCullum marvel

“The traditional Test approach in that situation would be ‘see how it goes, see how many wickets we’ve got left, then if the situation isn’t there, do we shut up shop?’ He was like, ‘Nah, we’re not doing that. We’re winning this game. If we don’t, so be it – we’ve done it the right way. It doesn’t matter if we don’t win this game.’ And it took the pressure off.”

“I had a few questions and didn’t want to be too indecisive and not know how I am meant to be playing. [McCullum] has been really clear with the doubts I had and it was good for me to be open with him,” he added.

England now lead the series 2-0. The third and final Test starts on Thursday at Headingley in Leeds.