Eight Days Later: Evolved England are in the hunt for statement display

It was during Ben Stokes’ four days in bed, while recovering from bowling 44 overs during the Lord’s Test, that he hammered the streaming platforms.

After burning through the whole first series of “Landman” on Amazon Prime, he ticked off both “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later”.

That now opens up the prospect of a cinema visit to see the third installment of the zombie franchise this week. Having trained on Tuesday morning, a number of the squad had pencilled in a trip to the movies, though very few have Stokes’ appetite for horror. He will likely have to brave “28 Years Later” alone.

During the 2022 one-off meeting with India at Edgbaston (the collateral of a different kind of virus) a Stokes-led group watched Baz Lurhmann’s “Elvis”. Among a few aspects they took to heart was the entertainer’s persona. Giving the people what they want, hips to the wind, squares be damned, we’ll do it our way.

Three years on, very little of that remains among this group, barring the little-finger salute the England captain and Joe Root still occasionally share to signify the latter’s reluctant rockstar status. Their 2-1 lead over India has come without truly flexing, beyond the chase at Leeds in the first Test. Victory at Lord’s in the third was achieved with the second slowest run rate (3.31) in 39 matches under Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s watch, and the slowest at home. Entertainment is now second to winning by any means.

Perhaps Danny Boyle’s latest post-apocalyptic offering may carry more applicable jumping-off points: a society attempting to re-adapt and restart, learning the lessons of two movies’ worth of human error and grief.

Come to think of it, England probably have more in common with Boyle’s latest interpretation of zombies. These semi-undead are more evolved, cannier, and still sharp out of the blocks. From McCullum’s mantra of running towards the danger, England are now keen to run *as* the danger. Less in their own world, more right up in yours.

“It was a real nice moment as a team when you speak about something like that, and then everyone buys into it,” Stokes said, recalling the notion floated by McCullum that they were too nice. That intervention triggered verbals on the field that have now spilled over into Shubman Gill’s pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

“It is not something we are going to purposely go out and start, that will take our focus off what we need to do out in the middle,” Stokes added. “But… we are not going to take a backward step and let any opposition try and be confrontational towards us, and not try to give a bit back.”

Other teams will be amused to hear the England sides they have faced over the last three years have been too amenable. It is worth noting that some of their more aggressive players are no longer around, particularly those with clearly assumed roles when it came to on-field verbals, such as James Anderson (instigator), Stuart Broad (facilitator), Jonny Bairstow (magnet) and even Ollie Robinson (starter).

At Lord’s, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook yapped like veterans. The likes of Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer and Stokes intimidated with their actions as well as their words. It has not taken much to ignite this fire, in either this England team or their Indian opponents. No amount of rain over the next five days at Emirates Old Trafford will quell it.

The danger, of course, is taking it too far, although the addition of former All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka – and his famous “No Dickheads Policy” – should, in theory, help guard against that.

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Indeed, Enoka’s presence this summer, even on a freelance basis, is a nod to necessary humility. McCullum and Stokes had been consulting with him across the six months between last year’s New Zealand series and the start of the English summer. Having articulated their vision around culture, behaviours on and off the field, and standards expected as best they could, Enoka went away and brought back something the rest of the group could digest. A code.

“Baz and I are very big on the choices and options you take, that they should not just be involved around you, but around your team-mates,” Stokes said.

“Having someone come in and speak from experience, with an unbelievable team like he worked with in the All Blacks, and almost share certain values. That was nice to hear, that we were similar in terms of our mindset of what we want to be doing as a team.

“It’s a lot better from someone who has been there and done that, and been very successful in team sport like Gilbert has.”

The series is fascinatingly poised, and the winter’s tour of Australia sits on the horizon like another mountain to conquer. While there may be cynicism towards England’s pursuit of a sharper edge alongside a more holistic vibe, these do feel like necessary adjustments. They offer structure to a previously boundaryless outfit.

The scoreline does not lie, although England will be the first to admit they’re ahead because they’ve won more of the big moments rather than outright bossed their opponents. They also feel they have more levels to hit.

They are still searching for that sweet spot of clinical yet engaging play. Might we see that in Manchester?

It was here in 2022 that they demolished South Africa by an innings, a retaliation to their first, humbling defeat under Stokes. A year later, they dogwalked Australia, seemingly on their way to their most complete performance, before rain washed away hopes of a first Ashes series win since 2015.

Here in 2025, a first series victory over India since 2018 is on the table, in a Test that will be more febrile than the previous three. England have deliberately set a dramatic scene for a statement win. Now they must go and seize it.