‘There was a lot of singing, as the English like to do...’

Journey to World Cup win

If you’d said four years ago I’d be a World Cup winner now, I might not have believed you. But what a journey. What a tournament. What a day! That was probably the best game of all time. — Joe Root

I wasn’t sure it was possible for England to win the World Cup when I started, but I thought I’d give it a go. — Trevor Bayliss

What a day. It has changed the history of English cricket and everyone got to watch it. But even if we didn’t win the World Cup, it would have still be a journey. We have changed the culture of cricket in England. People expect us to win, which is a lot different from a few years back. — Liam Plunkett

The Buttler-Stokes partnership

We knew we just had to bat some time. In One-day cricket recently, that hasn’t been the mode of operation. But we knew if we batted for 50 overs we should be there or thereabouts. — Jos Buttler             

I think the only time I really thought about it was the second to last ball. All I could think about was Bangladesh in the World T20 when they needed the same and they just hit it in the air. All I was thinking was: “Don’t get caught. Try and get one and get it to a Super Over at least.” Then if I hit it into a gap, maybe we could get two. — Ben Stokes

In one way, we had been practising for the last four years to play on flat decks. There were games where we lost badly on wickets that were doing a little bit. But the players have grown, they have learnt from those bad games and been able to play some smart cricket and adjust to wickets with a little bit in them. — Bayliss

The overthrows

That’s not the way I wanted to do it — the ball going off my bat like that. I apologised to Kane Williamson. —  Stokes

When those overthrows went four, it changed the tide. — Plunkett

I did think the game had gone. But it ebbs and flows, doesn’t it? I said to Nathan (Leamon), our analyst, with seven overs to go, “We need three sixes here.” When Stokesy dived and it deflected for four, that was the third six. Then we looked at each other and went: “Okay, we’ve got our three sixes!” — Jonny Bairstow

You always think if you just get one over the ropes, the pressure is all back on the bowler. As soon as that happened and you get the fortune of the overthrows, it’s all in your hands again. It was hard to watch in the dressing room again. — Root

The celebrations

There was a lot of singing, as the English like to do. They can string a few words together, unlike the Aussies, who just go “Oi, Oi, Oi”! Experiencing that in the changing rooms with not just the boys but their wives, their children, their parents and brothers and sisters, it was a great family feel. To see the joy on the boys’ faces and the way they celebrated was all worth it. — Bayliss

— ESPNcricinfo

Stokes likely to be knighted

London: England’s World Cup hero Ben Stokes (in pic) is likely to be bestowed with knighthood for his sensational performance in the summit clash of ODI Woeld Cup. Stokes’ heroics impressed Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, the two contenders to be the next prime minister of the UK.  “I will give dukedoms, whatever — I will go to the maximum, to, what, the Garter King of Arms,” said Johnson, the frontrunner to replace Theresa May as Britain’s PM. Asked if Stokes deserves knighthood, Johnson said, “Yes is the answer, absolutely.” When Hunt was asked the same question, he replied succinctly: “Of course”. — PTI