Prepare for bumper war
Brutal bumpers will keep coming as Stokes warns Aussies: Get ready for a...
Ben StokeS warned Australia yesterday that there will be no let- up in the sustained and often brutal aggression that saw Jofra Archer floor two of their batsmen on an extraordinary test debut.
‘that bouncer of his is a huge asset and he’s going to keep on doing it,’ said england’s restored vice-captain after the Ashes had been ignited at Lord’s by Archer. ‘ It’s a big part of Jofra’s game, being aggressive and not letting batsmen settle.
‘When someone takes a nasty blow, no bowler is going to say, “I’m not going to bowl that again because I don’t want to hit them”. there’s always concern when someone takes a blow, but once you get back to your mark it’s, “I’m going to keep doing it”.’
It was a matter- of-fact, yet chilling assessment of what lies ahead for an Australia side who saw Steve Smith suffer concussion after a blow to his neck and then his substitute Marnus Labuschagne struck on the head during one of the great spells of fast bowling from Archer.
It was an introduction to the highest form of the game like few others in test history and it was one that Stokes had the perfect view of when Lord’s came to a concerned halt on Saturday after the best batsman in the world had been felled by a sickening blow.
‘ It was a pretty scary couple of minutes, seeing someone go down like that,’ said Stokes of a man he knows well from their time as team-mates in the Indian Premier League.
‘I messaged him later to see how everything was because we’ve got a good relationship from our time together with Rajasthan Royals.
‘I had a little giggle with Steve, which was good, saying that Jofra must have a pretty good shot to hit that pea head! He was in as good a fettle as he could have been, but it was good to see him get up and walk back off that cricket pitch.’
the second Specsavers test may have been drawn, but clearly the dynamic has been changed even if Australia retain a 1-0 lead. the third game at Headingley on thursday will be more than ever a fast bowling shootout with Australia’s formidable attack now up against a bowler even quicker and more hostile than they are.
‘He gives another dimension to our attack and what we are able to do,’ said Stokes. ‘ We’ve seen Mitchell Johnson do it to us but Jofra makes it look so easy. It’s like he’s walking in to bowl. I’d rather have him on my team than having to face him.
‘He’s a frightening talent and he’s announced himself on the world stage again, this time in a different format. the sky’s the limit for him and he’s a great addition to our team. It’s so rhythmical with Jofra that it’s tough to see when that bouncer is coming.’
In all the excitement over Archer, it was easy to forget Stokes was player of the match at Lord’s for the century on Sunday that confirms, after his World Cup heroics, that he is now very much back to his best after the career-threatening fracas in Bristol.
It was an encouraging innings for england that not only gave them a chance of a highly unlikely second test victory but provided much needed solidity and then fireworks to their underperforming batting line-up.
‘I went back to no 5 because I hadn’t bowled as many overs as I have been doing,’ said Stokes. ‘I’ve told Joe Root I find it hard going from bowling to then getting my batting head on. that’s why I’ve been at six. We’re a very versatile batting line-up.
‘I have felt in good nick all summer but it’s the first time in a while I’ve got a century. It was a dogged hundred but when it got to the point where I could play my shots it became a lot easier.
‘It went a bit sour because we didn’t get the win, but we can take a lot of encouragement from this, knowing we had them on the ropes on day five.’
Stokes was dropped by David Warner on six off nathan Lyon and then trapped lbw by the off- spinner only for Australia not to review. Perhaps crucially, he went on to take apart Lyon, who had played such a big lastday role in Australia’s first test win.
‘We kept out nathan’s good balls and when we attacked we really committed to it,’ added Stokes, who hit Lyon for successive slog-swept sixes. ‘He could have had me five or six times early on, to be honest, but I thought attack was the best form of defence by the end.
‘Seeing him going from a five-for to none for a hundred will give our batsmen a lot of confidence.’