BROAD & CO GET BEST OUT OF FIRED-UP BEN

ENGLAND’S players have worked out how to get Ben Stokes fired up for action to deliver more match-winning contributions.

His double-wicket burst yesterday afternoon came as team-mates kept chipping away at him in the field to spark him into the kind of scrap he relishes.

Bowler Stuart Broad admitted: “With Stokesy, he’s a better cricketer when he’s in a battle and fired up and the team are learning how to get him in that mode more often than not.

“He’s such a great competitor to have on your team so if you can stoke him up a little bit then he gets in a battle and he has that steely focused look about him. He was pumped up for that spell, no doubt.

“As players we were saying, ‘Come on Stokesy this is your time, keep coming at him here, keep trying to get him out, keep bowling aggressively’. “It was a great little period for us to get two key batsmen out in quick succession with genuine pace. It was an exciting session to be on the field. “When Stokesy gets that kind of momentum it is great to see. He dragged the team with him for that little spell and hopefully he can have another spell for an hour on Monday.”

The pace and hostility Stokes showed with the ball made it far and away the best he has bowled so far this summer after getting over a knee niggle.

He has gained confidence with each game and the way he had the South Africa batsmen on the back foot reminded Broad of another hostile all-rounder.

“He bowled as quick as I’ve seen him bowl out there,” added Broad.

“He had the wind behind him and his tail was up. I think the bouncer that hit Elgar fired him up.

“It felt pretty quick out there, the slips were impressed by it and it was like one of those intimidating spells that Flintoff used to bowl, just heavy and at the batsman.

“Obviously you back yourself to take six wickets in a Test match day on a dayfive pitch. There is a bit of variable bounce, so we will bring the stumps into play if it does anything.”