Decoding stats of England openers in Stokes-McCullum era
The England Test team has been on a roll ever since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over as the captain and the head coach. On Saturday, England thrashed Ireland by 10 wickets in the one-off Test inside three days. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were pivotal to England's triumph. Here we decode the stats of England openers in the Stokes- McCullum era.
Why does this story matter?
England were enduring a lean run in Tests when former New Zealand captain McCullum took over as the head coach last year. 2022 also saw Stokes become England's Test skipper after Joe Root stepped down. The duo endorsed an aggressive batting approach, popularly known as 'Bazball', and the same earned significant success for England. The openers have also been aggressive under the duo.
How the openers fared in the Ireland Test?
On the Lord's track where Ireland could only manage 172 while batting first, England were off to a flier. Crawley and Duckett stitched a 109-run partnership in just 16.3 overs before the former departed for a 45-ball 56. Duckett went on to smash a career-best 182 off 178 balls. The visitors could not recover from their jolt as England eventually declared at 524/4.
Openers in the Stokes-McCullum era
Crawley and Duckett have so far garnered 605 opening partnership runs at a stellar average of 55. This includes two centuries and as many half-century stands. England's average run rate with the duo in the middle reads 5.93. No other opening pair with 300 partnership runs since 2022 has an average run rate of even 4.5.
What about the other England opening pair?
Before Duckett returned to the Test team last year, Crawley opened 13 innings with Alex Lees with Stokes and McCullum at the helm. The duo scored 408 runs together at 31.38 with the help of two centuries and a solitary half-century stand. Their average run rate of 4.46 is only second to Crawley and Duckett among opening pairs with 300-plus partnership runs since 2022.
A look at the individual numbers
Duckett, since his return to the Test side, has smothered 690 runs in six games at 69 with his strike rate being 97.18. No other opener with at least 300 runs since 2022 has a better average or strike rate. Crawley has smothered 637 runs in the Stokes-McCullum era at 27.69 (SR: 72.22). Lees has 327 runs in this regard at 25.15 (SR: 55.23).
11th win in the Stokes-McCullum era
England have now won 11 of their 13 Tests ever since Stokes and McCullum took over the charge. This includes series wins over Pakistan, New Zealand, and South Africa. While many believed the aggressive-batting approach would not profit the Brits for long, Stokes's men have managed to show stellar consistency. Their next assignment is the high-voltage Ashes series at home.
