Ben Stokes acknowledged the significance of returning to winning ways and taking a step in the right direction after a winter of Ashes discontent for England.
Five months on from their 4-1 drubbing in Australia, England kicked off their Test summer with an emphatic 115-run victory over New Zealand, sealed inside four days at Lord’s.
Gus Atkinson (5-30) applied the finishing touches to a morale-boosting win that saw Ollie Robinson claim seven wickets on his return from a two-year Test absence, and 22-year-old Emilio Gay hit a maiden half-century on his debut.
It handed England their first victory since a barely consolatory two-day win over Australia – who had already retained the Ashes – at the MCG in December, with captain Stokes keen to stress this was just the first step on the road to recovery.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m obviously very happy that we’ve won this week,” Stokes said.
“I knew how big this game was in terms of the result and how it was going to be perceived externally if it didn’t go well.
“But it has gone well, though I won’t be really happy and smiling until I get up there and share a beer with the boys.
“It would be easy to rest on your laurels. We’ve won the first game of the summer – it’s great that we’ve managed to do it, but we’ve got five more to go.
“We’ve got two more games against New Zealand, who are a quality team. We always have great battles against them. We’re one Test match down out of six, so there is a long way to go still.”
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Speaking after victory in the first Test at Lord’s, England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum heaped praise on the returning Ollie Robinson after he took seven wickets after two years away from the England set-up
‘It’s nice to win for a change’
The first chapter of England’s post-Ashes rebuild was made all the more impressive by the fact it came on a much-criticised Lord’s pitch that made batting arduous and the flow of the Test match frenetic.
England head coach Brendon McCullum hailed his players’ ability to master the conditions and use them to great effect to dismantle New Zealand.
“First of all, it’s nice to win. It’s a nice little change,” he said.
“In a game that was on fast-forward, to be able to hold our poise, execute our plan when we needed to, show some smarts when required and withstand some pressure – we were 110-8, you don’t win too many Test matches from that in the first innings – there was lots to be really pleased with.
“Obviously, the conditions were different to what we probably all expected, but they are what they are. You’ve got to find ways to adapt and perform on them, and I thought our boys did a great job.”
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Gus Atkinson took the final wicket when England defeated New Zealand in the first Test at Lords
‘England malleable, brave with the bat’
Debutant Gay’s second-innings 57 was the innings of the match – the highest score and longest stay at the crease on a bowler’s paradise – typifying the bravery with the bat that McCullum singled out for praise.
“We need to be quite malleable, depending on the surfaces we get,” McCullum added. “Nothing needs to be so binary, to play one certain way. We need to be adaptable and adjust when required.
“I thought the conversations our boys had throughout the Test match, from a coach’s point of view, were fantastic. There was a real communication unfolding, and I think that allowed us to be slightly more adaptable when we needed.
“Clearly, the issue on that pitch was going to be the full, straight ball. Defensively, we talked about straightening up your defensive clock to make sure we’re respecting the ball straight.
“But anything that had width, we were trying to throw our hands at it, knowing it was going to be a low-scoring game, so you still need to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
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Emilio Gay reaches a new career milestone and achieves his first half century for England
“I thought the guys were really brave in parts. When I say brave, I don’t mean running down the wicket, swinging brave – there’ll be times where that is required. I mean brave as in, this is a tricky surface.
“How are we able to manipulate our guard or change where we stand on the crease? Do we come out of the crease, back in the crease? Do you stand on leg stump, off stump? Just to try to give the bowler something different to look at, because clearly it was weighted in the bowler’s favour. There was some bravery in that.
“To me, the communication was the best that we’ve seen for a while, and I was really proud of that.”
Watch day one of the second Test between England and New Zealand, at The Kia Oval, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am on Wednesday June 17 (11am first ball). Stream cricket and more with NOW – no contract.
