Watch: Harry Brook loses to tailender in final of England six-hitting contest

England staged a range-hitting contest on the eve of their Test series decider against Pakistan. Whether it has a beneficial effect will be seen over the coming days on a pitch that was still being dried by a huge electric fan at each end, as well as the sun, less than 24 hours before the toss.

From a practice pitch on the square, each England player in turn had a maximum of four balls – thrown by assistant coach Paul Collingwood, wearing a helmet – to see who could hit the furthest six.

Some of the players, not surprisingly, glided down the pitch to hit the ball straight into the stands. Harry Brook and Jamie Smith in particular made it look like an effortless exercise on a steamy morning.

One surprising contender for the final was Jack Leach, not renowned hitherto for power-hitting, but having worked a lot with the batting coach Marcus Trescothick (now preparing the white-ball squad for the West Indies) he hit a long ball. But the biggest cheer was reserved for Shoaib Bashir who, after three mishits, struck his fourth attempt over the boundary.

Chris Woakes, perhaps strangely, could not master this straight-hitting – or maybe not strangely because he has such an old-fashioned, orthodox technique.

The final resolved itself into a shoot-out between Brook and a player one might not have expected to feature, Rehan Ahmed, who has been selected as England’s third spinner for this decider – and after Brook had miscued three times, as Collingwood threw faster and flatter, Rehan sprung down the pitch and launched one into the stands.

Winning this light-hearted training exercise will be a welcome encouragement for the 20-year-old all-rounder, who has been selected as the third spinner. Rehan’s batting ability has yet to be revealed in Tests – 87 runs in his eight innings to date – but he has the natural talent to hold down a place at number seven, if not higher. And in what is due to become a low-scoring match in the second half of this game, as the pitch crumbles for lack of grass, lower-order contributions will be welcome.

Following this power-hitting contest was a duel between the England captain, Ben Stokes, and the England head coach, Brendon McCullum. McCullum used to hold the record for the most sixes in all Test cricket, 107, until Stokes overtook him (he has since extended the record to 131).

It was no contest. Stokes is strong but McCullum is built like a tank. One step down the track and McCullum hit the longest ball of the whole morning into the upper tiers. Stokes immediately acknowledged defeat.

Had his Durham chairman been at the ground, Lord Botham, he would no doubt have consoled Stokes by telling him that it matters not how far your sixes go but how many you hit.