Stokes in private battle to be No1
BEN STOKES has never made any bones about the fact he is at his best on the cricket field when he can get himself in a battle.
But the England star says the most important factor in his continued improvement has been the battle he has with himself every day in practice.
“I am always looking to improve in every single area,” said Stokes. “Always trying to be never happy where I am at, I never like to feel like I am comfortable and always trying to test myself. That means trying to think of different ways to make certain sessions harder, even in the field.
“I am in the slips catching now, so just working on certain ways to make practice not simple – always trying to put obstacles in front of me to make it harder, different types of batting practice, bowling practice, whatever it is.
“Just making everything a bit harder so that when it comes to the game it can feel a little easier.”
Stokes has made himself the best-rewarded player in England on account of his multi-format skills and a £1.7million payday in the Indian Premier League.
Yet despite the millions and the accolades, his form for England appears on an upward curve as he showed with his contribution in the win against South Africa at the Kia Oval with bat, ball and in the field.
Stokes made 112 and 31, took three wickets (including two in two balls in the second innings) and had four catches.
It was a performance that left captain Joe Root full of praise for his vice-captain, insisting he is a different player now to 12 months ago.
“Ben has always been a great player but it is over the last year that he has really matured – and not just in Test cricket,” said Root. “He’s found ways to be more consistent and affect the game.
“He thinks really well and he has a great cricket brain, for which he doesn’t always get a lot of credit. He’s a person you know you can turn to under pressure to wrest a game back in your favour.
“He works extremely hard and you can see that now. Hopefully he is still on an upward curve and has further to go and more he can achieve in the game.”
The all-rounder is not about to rest on his laurels and will start with a clean slate as he looks to back it up at Old Trafford in the fourth and final Test of this series, which starts on Friday with England 2-1 ahead.
“At the end of the day, the win at the Oval doesn’t mean much unless we put in a performance in Manchester,” said Stokes.
“But if we have bad times, we can never look back at our preparation and think we could have done better.
“We’ll take massive confidence from this game and look to continue that in Manchester.”
Stokes is also looking forward to renewing his rivalry with opener Dean Elgar, whose 136 in South Africa’s second innings saw him edge the pair’s personal duel on Monday.
“He got the better of me when I tried to go hard at him but I rapped him on the gloves a couple of times. It’s great to be part of an individual battle that I felt me and him had throughout the game,” said Stokes.
“But huge credit has to go to Dean – it was a seriously gutsy hundred.”
England are likely to name an unchanged side for the fourth Test despite coach Trevor Bayliss suggesting they will be looking for improved performances from opener Keaton Jennings and batsman Dawid Malan.
Bayliss believes seven batsmen, with Moeen Ali batting in the final position, is the way forward, particularly when Chris Woakes comes back into the side, with the Ashes tour to Australia this winter in mind.
In practice I make things harder, so in the games it all feels easier