Swift recall for Stokes is proving to be wrong call

NO ONE is saying — not seriously, anyway — that the inclusion of Ben Stokes has cost England this Test. And no one is saying that Sam Curran, the man he replaced, is the new Ian Botham. But the truth is that, in the space of a few days, England have gone from a team who scored 396 for seven and bowled India out twice in the equivalent of less than a day, to a team who conceded 329 in helpful bowling conditions and lost 10 wickets in a session. There are many reasons for this transformation. But it should not be heretical to suggest they include the following: England dropped a young man who was beginning to revel in the Test arena, and replaced him with one who must have been emotionally drained after a seven-day trial in which his future was at stake. This is not a dig at Stokes. His commitment to England’s cause is unquestioned, and in normal circumstances he would walk straight into their best XI. But the events of the past fortnight have been the least normal circumstances of his career. It is not hindsight to argue that the kindest course of action would have been to allow him time off to spend a few days with his family, and come back refreshed for the fourth Test at Southampton. Everyone would have been a winner. Joe Root assured England fans before this game that Stokes had looked him in the eye and promised he was ready. But what did Root expect him to say? In the event, he looked rusty with the ball in India’s first innings, when he repeatedly dropped short in conditions crying out for a fuller length. And, as England collapsed, he made only ten before edging Mohammed Shami to second slip. Again, Stokes is not the reason England will lose this game. But Root will have to make some ruthless decisions if his team are to escape mid-table mediocrity. Sticking with Curran at Nottingham should have been one of them. It was clear as Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were adding 159 for India’s fourth wicket on Saturday afternoon — only two fewer than 11 England players managed between them — that Root needed the variety provided by Curran’s left-arm swing. After all, it had helped knock India over for 274 and 162 at Edgbaston, then 107 and 130 at Lord’s. Yet reverting to four right-arm seamers was precisely the mistake England kept making during the winter, when they lost in Australia and New Zealand. Since Curran’s stock ball is the full inswinger to the right-hander, it’s likely he would have hit the length that has made India’s bowlers so much more dangerous than England’s at Trent Bridge. For Root and coach Trevor Bayliss, the recall of Stokes felt like a no-brainer. But the braver call would have been to allow Curran to ride the crest of his wave. And it’s not disrespectful to Stokes to say so.