Ben Stokes’ mission to entertain has breathed new life into Test cricket

England’s run-rates went from 3.45 in the first Test to 4.7 at Trent Bridge to an incredible 5.41 in the last match at Headingley, that last figure not just pushing the envelope but shredding it.

As Australia captain, 20 years ago, Steve Waugh encouraged his team to score at four runs an over in a bid to ‘save’ Test cricket by making it more interesting to the general public.

They succeeded too, on occasion, but Waugh’s behest has proved largely unsustainable, until now.

Nobody can be sure where the ‘onward and upward’ cry from Stokes and McCullum will take matters but it makes this Friday’s one-off Test against India – something of a grudge match after their sudden departure last year – a mouthwatering prospect.

There won’t be any concessions. The team’s mission statement under Stokes and McCullum – ‘to entertain’ – has so far been kept like a Prelate’s promise. Entertain is the appropriate word, as England did not dominate New Zealand from start to finish.

Indeed, their opponents potentially had winning positions in all three matches. It is just that England’s counter-attacks, especially with the bat in the final innings, have been so brutal that New Zealand were overwhelmed – like the front-runner who collapses in a heap after five opponents have overtaken him with the finishing line in sight.

Incredibly, given the scoreline, front-running was not a position England found themselves in during the series and it will be interesting to see if their ‘no-backward-step’ approach to batting can work as well when leading.

There is a reason most teams like to chase totals in white-ball cricket rather than set them, and it is the difference between the known and the unknown.

Not that knowing a target seemed to influence Bairstow, for whom every ball at present seems an irritant to be despatched from his presence with power and disdain.

Destructive innings have been played in Test cricket before – by among others Ian Botham, Nathan Astle and Viv Richards. The difference here is Bairstow has delivered three humdingers in a row.

He has always had the range and power of shot just perhaps not the encouragement or self-belief to unleash them at the right moment.

Under Stokes and McCullum, Bairstow feels cherished and this has transferred itself to his shot selection, which is the absolute key to any innings, stodgy or freewheeling.

The same warm, fuzzy spell has also been cast over left-arm spinner Leach, after he took ten wickets at Headingley, a ground where seamers tend to dominate.

Actually the wickets, while important for England and Leach’s confidence, are only half the story. The other half is he bowled with great control, holding up one end without going for many runs, a vital role if Stokes is prevented from bowling his usual share of the overs due to his dodgy knee. England spinners are generally insecure souls (save for Graeme Swann) and Leach is no exception as his vapid bowling on the recent tour of the Caribbean showed.

Yet that uncertainty had disappeared in the last Test following Stokes’ handling of him – a curious mix of virtue signalling (bringing on the spinner during the first session of play), and bluff messages for Leach to man up (refusing to protect the boundaries after New Zealand’s batsmen attacked Leach and hit him over the top).