‘Mccullum effect’ felt in the field

England were much sharper thanks to a tweak to the slip cordon, specialist support and high-intensity practice

Slip catching

Since 2018, England have taken only 75 per cent of their slip chances – the second-worst record of the nine teams in the World Test Championship. New Zealand, the champions, are the world leaders in the slips in that time, snaffling 89 per cent of chances. Compared to New Zealand, England have effectively had to create one extra slip chance per match to bowl out their opponents twice.

Slip catching is tricky in England, because of how much the ball seams and swings. But all six of the countries to tour England between 2018 and 2021 – Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Ireland and the West Indies – have caught a higher share of their slip chances during their series here than the hosts.

But Jonny Bairstow’s three catches within the opening 40 minutes of play at Lord’s set the standard for England’s close catching throughout the Test: they took all five slip chances, with Bairstow himself taking four.

Slip catching is one casualty of a side regularly changing personnel, which forces the men in the cordon to be altered too. In the first Test, England benefited from a newly settled slip cordon: Joe Root at first slip, Zak Crawley at second and Bairstow at third. This trio played together on the tour of the West Indies – as did Ben Foakes, the wicketkeeper, whose positioning helps dictate where they stand.

England also seem to have benefited from a change in approach. Their slip fielders were tighter together last week, beginning with a smaller gap between Root at first slip and the keeper. Second, the shape of the cordon was different: a year ago, the slip fielders were standing flatter, but now the cordon was far more angled, curving around. Both these changes are aggressive, cutting off space for edges to fly between fielders.

These changes were married to a shift in attitude, with England’s slip fielders preaching a new mantra: Go for everything. Far better, England reason, to have two slip fielders going for the same catch than both leaving the ball for each other.

Ground fielding

England have had another problem: an inability to make direct hits that would lead to run-outs. Between the start of 2018 and this summer, only one other World Test Championship team had as low a success rate from run-out chances as England (75 per cent). But at Lord’s, there were signs of significant improvements.

It is no surprise that head coach Brendon Mccullum has identified this as a weakness, given his own attitude to fielding, which is that every ball needs to be hunted down.

At Lord’s, England embraced the same approach. Three bowlers – Jack Leach, Matt Parkinson and Stuart Broad – made full-length dives on the boundary to save fours.

In Leach’s case, it gave him suspected concussion, and ruled him out of the match but, as he told team-mates: “At least I saved the four.”

It attested to England’s attitude. They effected three direct hits in four attempts, including the one that dismissed Colin de Grandhomme, courtesy of brilliant quick thinking by Ollie Pope.

England have always practised direct hits, and there was no major change in their training methodology before Lord’s. But those there detected a sharpened intensity and energy to practise.

Wicketkeeping

Foakes was below his best in challenging conditions in the Caribbean. But at Lord’s, his contribution was quietly outstanding. He had five catching opportunities, and took them all with ease. He also conceded just one bye compared to his opposite number Tom Blundell’s 20, giving England a crucial 19-run advantage in a low-scoring Test. There was no obvious change in Foakes’s keeping method. But there was a significant change in the support he received.

In the Caribbean, Foakes carried out wicketkeeping drills with Carl Hopkinson, England’s lead fielding coach. But at Lord’s, he had a specialist wicketkeeping coach – James Foster, one of the finest English glovemen since 2000.

For all the importance of players embracing personal responsibility, as has been the mantra under Mccullum, bespoke, specialist support also gives the best chance of being successful.