PAK vs ENG 3rd Test 3rd – ‘We got England’s best six’ – Ben Stokes bullish after series defeat

England originally planned to announce their squad for the three-match tour of New Zealand immediately after the third Test in Rawalpindi, but have opted to wait until early next week to do so. But Stokes and Brendon McCullum have strongly suggested that major changes to their batting line-up are unlikely.

“They are the best players in England,” Stokes told Sky Sports. “We play all over the world and going to New Zealand in a few weeks will be completely different [to Pakistan]. But there’s no doubt in my mind, no doubt in Brendon’s mind, that we have a top-six player in England.

“You can’t close the door on everything, because you’re so focused on what you want to do. But going back to the point before, there’s no doubt in my mind that we got the highest. -six England batsmen Sometimes guys will reap the rewards for doing well in the middle, and unfortunately some guys will miss out .

McCullum gave a clear indication that Pope will be kept at number 3 even though he runs less. “It’s not an easy place to hit at number 3,” he told the BBC. “I know Popey will be disappointed with the number of runs he has scored in this series, but I expect him to come back strong in New Zealand and we will make sure he gets the support he needs to do that.

“Obviously, Popey has had a rough ride in terms of his run output… [but] We know that when Popey comes in, he makes big points – and he makes clear points… We have a good idea of ​​what the New Zealand team will be like, and the conditions we will have. deal with it.”

Stokes also admitted that England’s batsmen were beaten by Pakistan in favorable areas, but said they had done a “very good job”. In the second and third Tests, Sajid Khan and Noman Ali took 39 wickets between them at a combined average of 17.38, while Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach claimed 17 wickets at 35.47.

“The difference between [the teams in] these two matches were an understanding of how to bowl in these conditions and the Pakistani spinners showed, but that doesn’t take anything away from the way our spinners played in this series,” said Stokes. “I think they did a very good job. wickets they made.

“Especially Shoaib, I said to him the other day, ‘You’re going to learn on the job here. You’re going to learn about yourself as a bowler in a Test match. You get to find out how to bowl under different conditions at different stages of the game, and how exciting, how cool is that?’ He absolutely loves it.”

Stokes, meanwhile, returned from a head injury in the second Test and did not bowl in the third, but insisted that he is fine. “I worked very hard to get back in that second Test,” he said. “I didn’t feel that my bowling would be too dangerous [other] the things we had… in terms of my fitness ​​​​​​​​​and not the bowling, that has nothing to do with it.”

The first of England’s three Tests in New Zealand begins on November 27 in Christchurch, and the team will arrive in time for a warm-up game in Queenstown on November 23-24. Their white-ball teams left the UK on Monday ahead of three ODIs and five T20Is against the West Indies.