Zak Crawley insists England will not adopt a “negative” approach after their recent 4-1 series defeat in India but acknowledged they must learn when to absorb pressure.
India inflicted the first series loss of the Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum era after they stormed back from going one down in Hyderabad to win the last four Tests in comprehensive fashion.
It sparked debate over England’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ style following a string of batting collapses and head coach McCullum accepted they had to refine their style moving forward.
Crawley said: “We always talk about absorbing pressure and putting pressure back on.
“The last couple of years we’ve done the putting pressure back on pretty well and we’ve spoken about maybe picking those moments to absorb at the right times as well. We can certainly refine that.
“That’s not to say we’re going to get more negative. We will still try to play the way we have and try to score quickly but yeah, picking those moments where they’re on top and we need to absorb.
“Or even the other way where they’re on top and you feel like you need to put it back on. It is just getting it right.
“(Stokes) spoke about it after the series where we need a little bit of refinement. It is not big changes.
“We just need to make sure we stay positive and don’t let a tough result get in the way of what we’re done really well over the last couple of years.”
England’s strategy of moving the game forward quickly with higher run-rates and early declarations took the cricket world by storm as they won 10 of their first 11 Tests under Stokes and McCullum.
However, seven defeats have followed from the next 12 matches and a lack of a ruthless streak has cost England at times.
After England posted a first innings total of 353 in the fourth Test in Ranchi, they reduced India to 177 for seven but let the hosts off the hook and, instead of setting up a series decider, they crumbled to a crushing five-wicket defeat.
“We genuinely believed in ourselves and thought we could win the series,” Crawley, speaking at a sponsors event for Swiss watch brand Rado, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s official timing partner, admitted.
“We should have won in Ranchi, I think, to make it 2-2 and then you never know how the last one goes.
“When the series goes like that, it is always hard to wrestle the momentum back but we were in the series massively and we always believed.
“We certainly weren’t in the games when I was in India last time (in 2021), so we gave ourselves a good chance and we weren’t quite clinical enough like they were.
“Over five days, their skills are always going to come out and they are a phenomenal team. It was a really enjoyable tour though, we gave it a good crack and there is a lot to learn from.”
A beacon of light again for England was Crawley, who for the second series in a row led the scoring charts for his team.
The Kent batter was notably labelled as a player whose “skillset is not to be a consistent cricketer” by McCullum in 2022.
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A string of low scores increased the external noise around his position prior to last summer’s Ashes but the 26-year-old always retained the faith of England’s key decision-makers.
Now, 12 months on, Crawley has hit seven 50+ scores and averaged 46.7 against the two best attacks in the world, which included a sensational 189 at Old Trafford last July.
“I feel in a lot better place than I was,” Crawley added.
“I’m not trying to put too much pressure on any games to be honest. When I am playing for England or for Kent, I just try and turn up with the same process.
“I am trying to embrace failure more and accepting it is part of the game and sticking with what I do well.”
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
McAllister cannot see Klopp or Guardiola succeeding Southgate
Gary McAllister finds it hard to believe that either Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola will succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager.
Southgate, who led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, ended his eight-year tenure following their defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 showpiece.
The 53-year-old was often accused of a cautious approach despite only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) overseeing more England goals than his 213, with supporters wanting to see a more attack-minded manager take over.
And two of the names linked with the vacant position have been pioneers of Premier League football in recent years.
Klopp ended his nine-year stay at Liverpool in May to take a break from management, while some expect Guardiola to leave Manchester City at the end of his current deal, which expires next year.
The pair have won 653 games between them and shared 25 major honours during their time in England and could be seen as the ideal candidates to end the Three Lions' 58-year wait for silverware.
However, former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder McAllister believes Klopp and Guardiola are unlikely to become England's next manager.
McAllister, who played 57 times for his nation, believes supporters would prefer an English manager at the helm.
"I think people are linking Jurgen with the England job purely because he has experience working in the English Premier League," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"He's worked with elite players for many years now at Dortmund and at Liverpool. So people are putting two and two together.
"Personally, I don't see it happening and I think I also see that there were links to Pep Guardiola and I don't see Pep managing England either.
"It's hard for me to comment on this because I'm obviously not English, I'm Scottish.
"The people I speak to within the game, there is a feeling that the manager of England should come from St George's Park, which is the headquarters of English football, the FA and all the coaching programmes that they have there.
"Why would you have all this and then put a manager not from England in? I think most of the people in England are looking for an English manager."
The Three Lions' next game is a Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland in September, with Finland their next opponents three days later.
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