England chasing the rainbow with more questions than answers

⏱ 4 min read • 914 words

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On 29 June, England lost by 160 runs at Trent Bridge, surrendered the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy to New Zealand and watched Ben Stokes walk off a Test field for the last time. On 12 September, they knocked off 130 in 24.2 overs at Edgbaston to seal a 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan — the first time England have swept a home Test series against them. Ten weeks, two entirely different teams, and a question BBC cricket correspondent Stephan Shemilt keeps circling back to: are England genuinely better in September than they were in June, or did the opposition simply get worse?

Two summers wearing the same shirt

The June leg was one of the most chaotic stretches in recent English cricket. England won the opener at Lord’s by 115 runs, bowling New Zealand out for 113 and 138 in Kane Williamson’s farewell Test, with Ollie Robinson taking the match award on a recall few had campaigned for. Then it fell apart. Stokes was suspended for the second Test at The Oval following a nightclub incident on 8 June; Joe Root deputised and England were beaten by 253 runs as Matt Henry took a ten-wicket haul and Glenn Phillips made a maiden century. At Trent Bridge, Daryl Mitchell’s runs and a 288-9 declaration finished the job. It was New Zealand’s first series win in England, and it came barely five months after the 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.

By August, Stokes had retired from Tests, Root was captain on a permanent basis, Marcus Trescothick was in charge as stand-in coach and Kevin Pietersen had been brought back into the fold. What followed against Pakistan was one-sided to the point of discomfort:

Headingley: England won by an innings and 103 runs (Pakistan 171 & 135; England 409)
Lord’s: England won by 194 runs (England 290 & 208; Pakistan 110 & 194)
Edgbaston: England won by eight wickets (Pakistan 133 & 449; England 453 & 130-2)

Pakistan sacked their coaching staff mid-tour and sent players home. Only twice in the series did they pass 200. That context matters when weighing what England actually proved.

Robinson reborn, the newcomers unresolved

The clearest positive needs no caveat. Robinson, recalled after years in the international wilderness, took 21 wickets at 8.76 with an economy rate of 2.04, including 8-35 at Lord’s, passed 100 Test wickets and was named player of the series. Bowlers do not average under nine by accident, even against a side in freefall.

The batting is murkier. Jordan Cox posted back-to-back fifties at Leeds and Lord’s, each time walking in early with the ball moving, and left the summer averaging 38.20. Dan Lawrence, recalled by Root for the Headingley Test, made 51 first up and took the match award at Edgbaston. Emilio Gay made a Test-best 60 in Birmingham and then a duck; across five Tests he averages 23.44 and has not passed 33 in six innings since his two fifties against New Zealand. Harry Brook top-scored for England across the Pakistan series with 215 runs — a respectable return, not a dominant one. Root, meanwhile, went past Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of Test fifties and finished the summer unbeaten at Edgbaston.

The warning arrived on the third evening in Birmingham. Pakistan, 133 all out in the first innings, were rebuilt by debutant Razaullah Mashwani, who struck 81 from 63 balls with nine sixes to drag them to 449 and briefly stripped England of their composure. A team that had looked ruthless for three weeks suddenly looked like one that could not absorb pressure it had not scripted.

The pattern that keeps repeating

That is the shape of the Rob Key era in miniature. Across more than four years as director of cricket, England have been convincing in the gaps between the series that define them — and short of it in the series themselves. The drawn 2023 Ashes, the loss to Sri Lanka at The Oval in 2024, the failure to close out India, the 4-1 in Australia, then New Zealand at home. The wins over Pakistan sit alongside those results without cancelling any of them.

The proof comes quickly. England fly to South Africa for a Test series starting at the Wanderers on 17 December, then a Boxing Day Test at Centurion and the New Year’s Test at Newlands — three venues where nobody hides. Beyond that is the home Ashes, beginning 18 June 2027, the fixture that will settle how this rebuild is remembered.

England ended the summer with a settled captain, a bowler in career-best form and three batters who have made a case without closing it. That is progress. Whether it is the kind that survives contact with a good side is the thing they still cannot answer.

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**Sources:** [Wikipedia – New Zealand in England 2026](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_cricket_team_in_England_in_2026) · [Wikipedia – Pakistan in England 2026](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_cricket_team_in_England_in_2026) · [Sky Sports – England’s Test batting conundrum](https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12173/13579350/englands-test-batting-conundrum-will-jordan-cox-dan-lawrence-or-emilio-gay-miss-out-when-jacob-bethell-is-fit-again) · [SportsTiger – Robinson’s 21 wickets at 8.76](https://www.sportstiger.com/cricket/ollie-robinson-dominates-pakistan-series-with-21-wickets-at-an-incredible-8-76-average/) · [ECB – 2026/27 South Africa tour fixtures](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/4455456/fixtures-for-england-mens-202627-tour-to-south-africa-announced) · [ICC – England’s 2027 home summer schedule](https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/england-unveil-schedule-for-blockbuster-2027-home-summer)

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