On the chase: How Stokes and McCullum changed England's Test fortunes

When England lost the final match of their three-Test series against the West Indies in March, it capped a run of one red-ball win in 17 Tests, including a 4-0 defeat in the Ashes.

In light of that, no one could have predicted the speed with which the new combination of captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have turned around the fortunes of English Test cricket.

The new pair faced the daunting task of beginning their reign with a three-Test series against the current world Test champions and McCullum’s home nation, New Zealand.

Stokes and co went on to put the Kiwis to the sword. The records tumbled as they chased totals of 279, 299 and 296 across the three Tests to whitewash their opponents, managing to reach all three totals in a combined 183.2 overs.

That total of 874 runs was the most ever chased in a three-Test series. The second game at Trent Bridge featured the most boundaries ever hit in the format (249).

An England team who had looked so uncomfortable in their own skin just months before had been given the permission to express themselves and they thrived in doing so.

Players who travel the world decimating the ball in white-ball formats no longer looked encumbered by the weight of expectation in the red-ball arena.

Another stern test followed when India, the number two Test team in the world, travelled to Edgbaston to play the delayed final game of last summer's five-Test series which they led 2-1.

And once again England threw the rule book out the window, chasing 378 to win the Test.

If the largest successful chase in English Test cricket history was not enough, the manner in which it was done would be enough to turn the biggest doubter of England’s new style into a believer.

Joe Root, who had seemed despondent as captain months earlier, batted like a player without a care in the world as he and man of the match Jonny Bairstow put on an unbeaten 269 runs in 315 balls.

Bairstow, whose England career has looked in doubt at times in the not too distant past, has embraced his one-day style of batting and reaped the rewards. His last five innings have seen him fire 589 runs from 578 balls at an average of 196.

Perhaps the best demonstration of how different the Stokes and McCullum approach is to what has come before it is that in 145 years of Test cricket, there have been 57 successful chases of over 275 runs and England have just completed four in a row.

Stokes even remarked after the match that he wanted the total required to reach 450 just to see if his side could catch it.

This new-found fearlessness is in stark contrast to the uncertainty and indecision which plagued the previous leadership. Out with the old and in with the new.

Now undoubtedly England must prove there is more than one string to their bow and be successful in away conditions but considering the position English cricket was in just months ago, Stokes and McCullum have done a remarkable job of changing the mentality of broadly the same group of players.

In a summer with no major men’s football tournament, they might just have inspired some of the next generation to take up the sport, and maybe chase down a few totals themselves.

Jesus set to be the first domino as big six are forced to deal with each other

Raheem Sterling’s 2015 move from Liverpool to Manchester City marked one of the last instances of a major transfer being completed between two of the Premier League's 'big six' clubs.

Before this summer, only four of the top 100 most expensive transfers of all time took place between two members of the big six, despite the fact that one of those clubs were involved in 63 of those 100 deals.

However, Sterling is one of a number of potential names who could be set for a move between that group of top-flight teams as the new normal sets in.

Gabriel Jesus's transfer from Manchester City to Arsenal could well be the first domino to fall in a number of deals that sees the Premier League’s top clubs selling players to each other with unprecedented regularity.

With sides on the continent less and less able to afford the transfer fees of their Premier League counterparts, the top teams in England will find they are forced to deal with each other more frequently.

Sterling, Cristiano Ronaldo, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Nathan Ake have all been heavily linked with a move from one big six club to another this summer.

Perhaps the best demonstration of the financial might of the Premier League compared to teams on the continent is that in the last six months newly rich Newcastle United have signed a key defender from both the 2020-21 Spanish and French champions - Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid and Sven Botman from Lille.

With the rise and rise of the financial muscle of the Premier League, expect more big names to transfer between the top sides as the options abroad dwindle.

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