Out of this world
‘Stokes is unstoppable now, a colossal superman who saved the series’
In 1981, Mike Brearley had Ian Botham. In 2005 I had Andrew Flintoff. In 2019 Joe Root has Ben Stokes. The first two won their captain an Ashes series. The third will do the same. I was involved in one of the great Ashes Tests at Edgbaston, but this was better. We nearly lost that game in 2005. England won this one from nowhere.
At 286 for nine, with another 73 runs needed, England were done and dusted.
Stokes’s team were 1-0 down in the series, he was facing a really strong attack and the Ashes were staying in Australia. But all of a sudden this colossal superman saved the series.
What Botham achieved in 1981 was special. But if England win the Ashes then Stokes in 2019 will be better than Beefy in ’81 because he won us the World Cup, too.
There are still problems with this England team and their batting. But when you have players such as Stokes in your side, there can be lots wrong with your team but you can still win. Players such as Stokes just have that mentality, belief, ethic of working hard, and a “give me the ball and I will get us over the line” attitude.
Forget this nonsense about teams being a collective and a tight group, England won that match because of one man.
Without Stokes this week England would have been hammered, which is why when you have a character like that in your team anything is possible.
I just do not see how Australia can stop England now. Last night they should have been having a drink and celebrating the fact the urn is staying in Australia. Instead, they know they will face 28,000 England fans at Old Trafford next week going absolutely nuts. Good luck getting a ticket.
There have been some great times for English cricket this summer, but what Stokes has done for Test cricket he will not be able to comprehend. The number of people who will watch that footage of his Headingley hundred on television, social media, the 10 o’clock news, read it in the newspapers and followed it on the
radio is massive. His achievement will have implications beyond this Test series. Kids will pick up a bat wanting to be Ben Stokes.
It is another reminder that Test cricket needs to be protected by those who run the game. It has to be the pinnacle. The drama of yesterday was incredible.
The ground was sold out and every seat taken at 11am. You just do not see that. Nobody wanted to miss a moment. It was as if the crowd knew they were seeing something special.
Even with 70 needed they still cheered when a couple of fours were hit. I watched videos from 1981 recently and this was a bigger, more electric crowd.
Tim Paine will be going through all sorts of agonies over the next couple of weeks. He will be hurting badly. Nathan Lyon will be hurting over that run-out chance. They will be questioning everything. They will be blaming Joel Wilson for not giving Stokes out lbw. But then why did they review the Jack Leach lbw in the previous over when it was clearly not out?
If ever there was an example of why you have to keep your cool under pressure, that was it.
Do not waste your reviews, even when desperate. That review on Leach cost Australia the victory. I personally think Wilson had to use his common sense at that moment and give Stokes out to Lyon. England had one review left. They could have checked his decision and nobody would have had a grumble. But ultimately at that moment it was about Australia staying cool and their captain keeping his last review in his back pocket. He did not get that right.
The problem with this England Test team is you cannot put it past them to go to Old Trafford and be bowled out for 67 again!
But with Stokes man of the match two games in a row, and potentially James Anderson coming back, I think we are in for an absolute belter in Manchester.
David Warner looks back in form. Steve Smith will return. Marnus Labuschagne looks high class. It is set up perfectly.
England just have to remember how they coped with batting in the chase in the second innings. Now, just bat like that all the time. They can do it.
If they had batted properly in the first innings they would have strolled the Test.
They have enough talent to not allow Australia a chance in the last two games, but with the way they batted in the first innings they practically gifted them a victory, even without Smith in the side.
Be ruthless. Do not make that mistake again. Stokes has probably saved a couple of careers as well.
In all likelihood he has probably stopped the selectors thinking they had to drop two or three players for the next Test.
It might be that England pick the same team again now. That is what an individual can do.
They not only win games but, in doing so, save their team-mates’ skin and earn them other chances. Stokes is unstoppable now.
England have to seize on his incredible performance.
Forget the nonsense about teams being a collective, England won that match because of one man