Root hails Stokes reign

JOE ROOt has compared England’s red-ball revolution to their turnaround in white-ball fortunes seven years ago, saying he’s never had so much fun during his 10 years in international cricket.

‘there was a moment at trent Bridge when me and Zak Crawley sat down in that last session with a crossword,’ Root said, referring to England’s victory in the second test over New Zealand and the merciless hitting of Jonny Bairstow.

‘we did one answer and within three overs, we’d put the book down and couldn’t take our eyes off it. It was like watching a highlights reel of a twenty20 game, never mind a test.

‘there is a small feeling of what it was like when we started to make those really big scores in the white-ball team. that’s the exciting thing — how far can we go? You look at what that team has achieved. It is early days, but it is very exciting that there is the same sort of vibe around.’

Meanwhile, Brendon McCullum has given the clearest indication yet that England will take Crawley and alex Lees to Pakistan this winter.

the pair gave their prospects a boost with England’s quickestever century opening stand, from just 17.2 overs, as south africa were brushed aside at the Oval.

Despite those late- summer runs, however, Crawley averaged just 23 in the seven home tests and Lees 25 — a familiar story for England openers since the retirements of andrew strauss in 2012 and alastair Cook in 2018.

But coach McCullum said: ‘we’re very quick to judge some of the things that aren’t working as well. these are tough cricket wickets. the last two guys who nailed it at the top of the order in this country are both called “sir”, so it’s not an easy thing to do.

‘we’ve got to allow these guys the time and opportunity to develop. You’ve got to allow that talent to come out.’