Matt Maher: Optimism abounds after England make the extraordinary look ordinary again

It was no act of clairvoyance, notwithstanding what materialised over the following 24 hours. 

Neither was it based on a particularly detailed assessment of the statistics and the task which faced England, as they began their pursuit of 371 what would be the 10th highest run chase in the history of Test cricket.

Instead it was merely a hunch based on the feel for a game which India had to that point largely dominated the first four days at Headingley, yet failed to completely kill off an England side who have made a habit of making the extraordinary look ordinary.

When Jamie Smith smacked the winning runs just before half past six on Tuesday, the most surprising thing was how unsurprising it all was. But for a slight wobble when Ben Duckett and Harry Brook were dismissed in the space of two balls, at no point in the day did anything other than an England win look on the cards. An achievement which just four or five years ago would have been unthinkable, seemed somewhat easy, almost to the point of routine.

All hail Bazball or, to paraphrase former England captain Michael Vaughan, all hail “Bazball with brains”.

There’s no question the style of play, championed by head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, has had its critics since it first entered the English lexicon in the summer of 2022. 

It’s not been without its setbacks. Who could forget the daft, premature declaration at Edgbaston which in all probability cost England the most recent Ashes series?

But it is also true the successes have far outweighed the failures and - more than that - it has undeniably changed the way we look at Test cricket. What was for a long time considered impossible, such as chasing 370-plus on a fifth day pitch, is no longer so.

England have now done that against India in back-to-back home Tests having reached 378 at Edgbaston three years ago with even more ease than they made 371 in Leeds this week.

It was the sixth time they have chased down a score of 250 or more in the McCullum-Stokes era. At some point, you have to accept it is no fluke. 

Granted, Stokes’ ears might have been burning when India sat 430-3 at one point following his decision to bowl on the opening day but by the finish you couldn’t help but wonder whether a chase of around 370 is what the England skipper wanted all along. His is a team which rises to the challenge and never looks beaten.

By the same token, there is also no disguising the fact Bazball has been refined, with a large dollop of the recklessness which characterised its earliest iteration removed.

For evidence of that, look no further than the brilliant innings of Ben Duckett, who scored 149 of England’s 371 runs in the chase but perhaps most importantly of all, set the tone by leaving the first two balls he faced from Bumrah.

That felt remarkable in itself because for much of his career, it wasn’t clear whether the “leave” was a shot he actually had in his armoury. Using it here summed up England’s approach, which remained aggressive but was not without control.

Duckett later talked about “taking the ego” out of his batting and he might as well have been talking about the evolution of Bazball as a concept.

While observers might not always have been convinced, the players have and the belief which now flows through this England team is perhaps the most important element of all.

It felt the key difference between the teams at Headingley. At various points in the opening four days, England looked like they were going to be batted out of the game. 

Yet at no point did they allow their heads to drop. They kept clinging on and their character contrasted sharply with that of India as the match slipped away from the tourists in the closing hours.

For all England’s excellence, you can’t ignore the failings of their opponent, whose tally of 10 dropped catches was their most in a match for 14 years and who became the first team in the history of Test cricket (just the 60,000 games to take into account there) to score five centuries in a game and end up losing.

But then so much of sport at the highest level is played in the head and mentally it was England who looked much the stronger.

It augurs well for the rest of the summer and more pertinently, the winter tour to Australia which in the eyes of many will deliver the ultimate verdict on the McCullum-Stokes era.

Of course, it is far too soon to start predicting how England will fare Down Under, suffice to say they will go there as underdogs having lost the last three series on Australian soil by an aggregate score of 13-0.

There are also still four Tests to play against India, starting at Edgbaston this Wednesday. This is still a very good visiting team and opinions can change quickly. There remain questions to be answered by England's bowling attack.

Yet after once again defying the odds to claim victory at Headingley and having watched the Aussies ever-changing top order run through twice by the West Indies, this certainly has been a week to boost optimism levels. If you don't have confidence in this England team now, you never will.