British cricket empire rises with thorough plans realised professionally

Unfamiliar as it still sounds, the pre-match anthem said it all. God Save The King indeed. A new reign is upon us. With this victory, which was more heart-in-mouth than the scorecard suggests, England become simultaneous world champions in both short forms. They beat New Zealand for the 50-over title at Lord’s in the most memorable final of all three years ago, but it will give them pleasure to have landed this one on the MCG with Australia watching on helplessly. They enjoy putting one over us as much as we like putting one over them. Ben Stokes celebrates hitting the winning runs against Pakistan. Credit:AP In Test cricket, England lie fourth in the rankings. But that is largely the legacy of a dismally long run of defeats under a previous management, culminating in last summer’s Ashes thrashing here and its nadir on this ground.

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