The tools at England’s disposal as new era of Test cricket begins this week

England’s new era of Test cricket begins this week with head coach Brendon McCullum encouraging them to play with freedom.

New captain Ben Stokes will be the perfect on-field embodiment of the attacking style favoured by McCullum and here, the PA news agency assesses the tools at their disposal.

Stokes celebrated his installation as captain with an astonishing innings of 161 from 88 balls in his next first-class innings for Durham, conjuring memories of his epic England counter-attacks at Headingley in the 2019 Ashes and against New Zealand in the same year’s World Cup final.

He will bat at number six against the Black Caps and brings the highest Test strike rate of any of England’s top order, with his 57.40 runs per hundred balls exceeded only by tail-ender Stuart Broad.

Previous captain Joe Root is England’s most reliable source of runs and, while he is not a noted big hitter, his Test strike rate of 54.65 shows his canny accumulation and is actually slightly higher than his more-aggressive Yorkshire colleague Jonny Bairstow (54.46), who is expected to get the nod at number five in between Root and Stokes.

Ollie Pope, tipped to move up to number three, and Zak Crawley also have strike rates above 50 with only Crawley’s opening partner Alex Lees, all the way down at 27.39, standing out as a defensive option.

Harry Brook is the one newcomer among the top-order options after excelling for Yorkshire this season and, while expected to miss out this week, his selection in the squad is another indication of the likely approach under McCullum.

The 23-year-old’s 840 LV= Insurance County Championship runs this season have come at 75.60 runs per 100 balls and he boasts a career first-class strike rate of 64.36 in 87 innings.

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