Time gentlemen, please? Game endures draw furore but shaking hands too early can hurt

Game endures draw furore but shaking hands too early can hurt

- Mark Ramprakash

Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have brought a clear, aggressive mindset to England over the past three years, an approach that has been hugely positive, freeing up the players and bringing a lot of excitement. But if they have decided to focus on winning games and entertaining the public, and chosen not to play for draws or focus on individual milestones, it does not mean everyone else has. Centuries are still important to players. Sometimes a draw is a positive result.

What we saw from England when India initially refused to accept the draw on Sunday was a combination of natural disappointment – they had dominated the game, played so much good cricket, wanted to force home the advantage and make the final Test a dead rubber – genuine tiredness and a bit of cultural insensitivity. Certain situations are viewed differently around the world.

Remember the Jonny Bairstow incident at Lord's during the 2023 Ashes or Ravi Ashwin running out Jos Buttler at the non-striker's end in the 2019 IPL? The way those things were viewed in the UK and abroad was very different. I know from my time in county cricket most teams would have walked off, even if they had a couple of batters approaching centuries, but in international cricket it is different – centuries mean more.