England must accept the need for ruthlessness alongside entertainment | Mark Ramprakash
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Ben Stokes seems wary of using the word ‘ruthless’ but it is the one thing talented players need to become a truly great team. Sometimes I feel this England team can’t take two steps forward without doing something that makes me think they’ve gone backwards. So much progress has been made, so many reasons for optimism provided before a year that is likely to define them. But then they end it with a display that forces me to wonder whether they have it in them to become the best in the world, to win the World Test Championship, to be more than just entertainers.
![[Mark Ramprakash]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2021/12/06/Mark_Ramprakash.png?width=180&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Ben Stokes says he hates the word “ruthless”, but I am puzzled by him attaching a negative connotation to a word that is synonymous with all the greatest teams in the history of sport. No team relishes facing talented and ruthless opponents – well England have the talent, but not the attitude. This is a team that has shown they can dominate, and that they can also self-destruct.
![[Jacob Bethell of England bats during day four of the Third Test against New Zealand]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/9002d92d8af0355238f9e078ea01eaf781b8d4b1/0_153_4596_2758/master/4596.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Overall it has been a hugely positive winter. It started with an amazing victory in the first Test in Pakistan, and though they lost the next two games in unusual, hostile conditions they came roaring back in New Zealand, playing some terrific cricket. Harry Brook briefly became the world’s No 1 Test batsman with Joe Root still the mainstay of the side, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse bossed things with the ball, Stokes looked back to his best as an all-rounder, batting solidly and getting his bowling up to speed, Jacob Bethell was thrown into the team unexpectedly and looked the part at No 3. This is real progress.
