England skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have started the new regime with a win over New Zealand in the Lord's Test match. Despite a few nervous breakouts, the English outfit tightly clung onto the rope that took them to their second red-ball victory in the last 18 fixtures.
With the whole country in a jovial mood, former England captain Nasser Hussain also joined the celebration, lauding Ben Stokes and Co for their terrific performance.
Although the game lacked theatrics on Day 4, the crowd at Lord's was greeted with a Joe Root special as the batter pulled off a match-winning hundred without much ado. Root became the second English batter to record 10,000 Test runs and became the joint-youngest (31 years, 157 days) to do so, standing neck-to-neck with Sir Alastair Cook.
"It was brilliant, right from the first ball to the scenes at the end. There was no drama on Sunday - but there was one individual that the country and English cricket fans wanted to stand to, and that was Root," Hussain said as quoted on Sky Sports.
"They love him, and it was such a joyous moment for him to get to 10,000 Test runs and get England over the line," he added.
While the change in era for English Test cricket has commenced emphatically, Hussain advised the players not to get carried away and to continue in the same fashion.
"It is a change in era for English cricket, and it was absolutely vital they started with a win. You can imagine the confidence in that dressing room now.
All the young lads will be hanging on every word from McCullum and Stokes and want to improve. It's only a start, and they can't get giddy about it, but it's the start England needed," the cricketer-turned-commentator concluded.
The caravan will now move to Nottingham as both the teams now shift their attention to the second Test match, scheduled at Trent Bridge from June 10.