Ben Stokes put his team on the cusp of paying the perfect tribute to Her Majesty with a sixth Test win out of seven in touching distance.
It is unclear whether the late monarch thought a good game was a quick game, but that is precisely what Stokes has inspired with three days proving to be more than enough time to force a result.
Only the fading light and the briefest of rearguard actions from the South Africans prevented the final Test of the summer from finishing inside two days of play on Duchy of Cornwall land. And while the nation might have had a new king installed this weekend, English cricket had theirs complete his accession back in April and Stokes’ reign could not have got off to a better start.
Not since 2004 have England won six Tests in a summer, because it is a seriously hard thing to do. And yet here is a team that contains largely the same players who won just once in 17 matches, about to do the same.
The transformation has been as emphatic as it has been quick, and the chance to celebrate their achievements should come pretty swiftly on Monday morning. Just 33 runs will be required on the last day to complete the job started so well by Zak Crawley and Alex Lees, and should they get to 130 together it will be the final tick in the box for the new regime.
It will be a triumph for the methods employed by Stokes and Brendon McCullum, cheekily dubbed ‘Bazball’ after the coach, but in truth ‘Benball’ would have been more appropriate. Stokes is the one who has pushed the message of positivity above and beyond, at times even going further than McCullum thought possible.
He has seemingly been happy to sacrifice his own wicket in order to drive the message home and he has been the fulcrum around whom the team has functioned out on the field, whether it is putting his faith in Jack Leach, or stepping up to bowl the tough overs that protects his key bowlers.
He was at it again at the Oval, with his left knee locking up as it now regularly does and causing him pain, but still delivering. A double wicket maiden either side of tea to remove Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada were added to his earlier wicket of Sarel Erwee to leave him with figures of 3-39 as the wickets were shared across the four seamers.
Stokes is averaging 40 with the bat and 25 with the ball this summer so even if his leadership wasn’t as good as it clearly is, this is where he is having just as huge an impact. “Ben Stokes is an absolute star,” said former England teammate turned Sky commentator Kevin Pietersen.
“It’s star quality. He leads from the front, he impresses with everything he does, he is a superstar and is great to watch. He’s bowling with one knee. He’s bowling through the pain and with the ball swinging for him he is able to dominate the batsmen. England are so lucky to have him.”
They are lucky to have Stuart Broad too who tilted things England’s way with the wicket of Dean Elgar when he should have reviewed the lbw decision. But the theatre that Broad creates with his appeal and celebration is enough to confuse both umpire and batter, so much so that Elgar incredibly walked for his wicket.
